The Trump administration this week told 40 states to eliminate parts of lessons that focus on LGBTQ+ issues from federally funded sexual education materials or lose the money. The move is the latest effort since Trump returned to the White House in January to recognize people as only male or female and to eliminate what he calls "gender ideology." In a statement, acting Assistant Health and Human Service Secretary Andrew Gradison said, "Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas," the AP reports.
That position contradicts what the American Medical Association and other mainstream medical groups say: that extensive scientific research suggests sex and gender are better understood as a spectrum than as an either-or definition. The funds in question in the Personal Responsibility Education Program total over $81 million for the 40 states plus the District of Columbia and five territories where officials were sent the letter. The officials were told they have 60 days to change the lessons. California was warned previously, and the $12 million grant for that state was stripped on Aug. 21. Now, other states will have until late October to decide whether to comply or give up the funding.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong suggested there could be legal challenges to the administration's effort. "Threatening to defund our schools over this is completely unhinged and we're not going to let Trump steal money from our kids," he said in a statement. The grants are used to teach adolescents about abstinence and contraception. They target education for those who are homeless, in foster care, living in rural areas or places with high teen birth rates—and minority groups, including LGBTQ+ populations.
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