Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have filed suit against the Trump administration, alleging that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is illegally threatening to withhold federal sex education funding from programs that acknowledge gender identity.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oregon, challenges HHS guidance issued in August that directs states to remove references to gender diversity from federally funded curricula or risk losing millions in grant money. At issue are two long-standing programs: the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and Title V Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) program. These initiatives provide millions in funding to states for lessons on abstinence, contraception, pregnancy prevention, and sexually transmitted infections.
The new directive from HHS warns that grants will be cut if curricula contain language affirming transgender or gender-diverse students. Plaintiffs argue this condition violates federal law, exceeds the agency’s authority, and forces states to either comply with unlawful restrictions or lose critical resources for public health education. The complaint states that the directive is an attempt to erase transgender and gender-diverse people from federally funded programs and denies students access to accurate, inclusive information about their health.
California has already experienced the consequences of refusing to comply. The state recently lost a $12 million PREP grant after maintaining lessons that include references to LGBTQ+ students. Attorneys general involved in the lawsuit warn that other states could face similar losses if the policy is not overturned. The filing estimates that plaintiff states together risk losing at least $35 million in federal funding.
Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota are leading the legal challenge. Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement that HHS threatened to cancel his state’s PREP funding if schools continued teaching that “people of all sexual orientations and gender identities need to know how to prevent pregnancy and STIs, either for themselves or to help a friend.” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called the directive “unacceptable,” arguing that it forces states to choose between stripping curricula of inclusive lessons or sacrificing vital education funds.
The plaintiff states are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia. The coalition argues that the federal government is unlawfully conditioning funds on restrictions never approved by Congress.
Since returning to office in January, President Donald Trump has made efforts to legally recognize only male and female gender categories. The lawsuit describes the HHS directive as part of that broader effort, stating it is “the latest attempt from the current administration to target and harm transgender and gender-diverse youth” by excluding their experiences from federally supported health education.