A protester waves a transgender pride flag during a protest against an anti-trans guest speaker on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, outside of the Corbett Center Student Union at New Mexico State University Matt Walsh Protest
Sacramento, California – The Trump administration has delivered a stark ultimatum to California: remove gender identity content from sex education curricula within 60 days or risk losing more than $12.3 million in federal grants. These funds, critical for supporting sex education programs across the state, have already financed the creation and distribution of materials that the administration now deems unacceptable.
This directive is the latest flashpoint in the ongoing cultural conflict between the federal government and California over LGBTQ+ issues. Since President Trump’s January 2021 executive order affirming a strict male-female sex binary, federal agencies under his administration have increasingly wielded funding as leverage to enforce this narrow definition of sex and gender, intruding into domains traditionally governed by states and local districts.
The current dispute centers on the California Personal Responsibility Education Program (CA PREP), which receives federal funding through the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services. This program delivers comprehensive sexual health education to roughly 13,000 youth annually, including those in juvenile justice centers, foster care group homes, and homeless shelters. The state’s materials, praised by California officials as “medically accurate, comprehensive, and age-appropriate,” include lessons recognizing gender identities beyond the male-female binary.
The administration objects to language like this excerpt from a middle school lesson: “There are also people who don’t identify as boys or girls, but rather as transgender or gender queer.” Officials argue that such content constitutes “indoctrination” and falls “outside the scope” of the grant’s purpose to teach abstinence and contraception for pregnancy and STI prevention.
The Department of Public Health notes the curriculum was federally pre-approved and has shown evidence of improving participants’ understanding of sexual and reproductive health. Nevertheless, the Trump administration claims the Biden administration “erred” in allowing these lessons under the PREP grants and insists on their removal under threat of rescinding future funds.
California law mandates comprehensive sexual health education, including HIV prevention, at least once in middle and high school. The federal pressure challenges the state’s autonomy in defining educational content in a politically charged environment.
As the deadline looms, California faces the difficult choice of complying with federal demands or risking the loss of millions in funding crucial for vulnerable youth. Meanwhile, the administration’s move to cancel ongoing grants is facing legal challenges, adding another layer to this contentious intersection of education, public health, and culture wars.
