Trump administration gives California 60 days to remove gender content from teen pregnancy program

The Trump administration gave California a deadline to eliminate gender-ideology references from material used in a federally funded program aimed at preventing teen pregnancy, accusing the state of seeking to “indoctrinate our children.” Here’s what you need to know about the federal sex education funding dispute:

The federal ultimatum

Trump administration demands California curriculum changes:

• Administration for Children and Families sent Friday letter to California
• State has 60 days to remove gender-identity passages from program materials
• Must comply with Personal Responsibility Education Program requirements or lose federal grant
• Letter sent to Sydney Armendariz at California Department of Public Health

The official justification

HHS acting assistant secretary explains administration position:

• Andrew Gradison said “Trump administration will not tolerate use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children”
• Called gender ideology content “disturbing” and “unacceptable”
• Said content “well outside the program’s core purpose”
• Administration committed to “radical transparency” for parents about school curricula

The PREP program details

Federal initiative targets teen pregnancy and STD prevention:

• Personal Responsibility Education Program has $75 million national budget
• California received $5,864,762 in PREP funding in fiscal 2023
• Program teaches youth ages 10-19 about abstinence and contraception
• Seeks to reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases

The problematic content examples

Eight passages cited as exceeding program scope:

• “Rights, Respect and Responsibility” curriculum discusses transgender and gender queer identities
• “Making Proud Choices” curriculum defines gender identity for ages 12-18
• “Teen Talk High School” reminds students about anatomy and gender mismatches
• Content addresses people who “don’t identify as boys or girls”

The curriculum quotes

Specific examples of contested material:

• Middle school curriculum: “There are also people who don’t identify as boys or girls, but rather as transgender or gender queer”
• High school material: “Some men are born with female anatomy, some women are born with male anatomy”
• Ages 12-18 curriculum explains when “person’s inner feelings about gender identity don’t match the body”
• Materials discuss students’ “inner sense of your gender”

The legal argument

Administration cites Congressional intent:

• Congress created program to educate on “both abstinence and contraception”
• Statute “contains no mention of gender ideology” according to letter
• Current California curricula “out of compliance with PREP statute and HHS regulations”
• Material “must be modified” to meet federal requirements

The Biden administration approval

Previous administration had authorized contested content:

• California’s program material was approved under Biden administration
• Gradison said prior administration “erred in allowing PREP grants” for gender ideology
• Previous approval “exceeded the agency’s authority to administer the program”
• Agency authority must be “consistent with the authorizing legislation as enacted by Congress”

The compliance timeline

California given specific deadline for changes:

• State has until Aug. 19 to submit modified curricula
• Must provide modified program material to federal agency
• 60-day timeline starts from Friday letter
• Failure to comply could result in loss of federal grant funding

The review process change

Federal agency altered planned evaluation:

• Agency asked states to submit PREP material in April for “medical accuracy review”
• Concluded gender-ideology references outside scope of statute
• “Changing our planned course of action and are no longer conducting a review for medical accuracy”
• Content determined to be “outside of the subjects that are statutorily authorized”

Read more:

• California ordered to delete gender ideology from federally funded sex ed program