16 U.S. states sue federal health officials over threats to cut funding for trans-inclusive health education

Sixteen U.S. states and the District of Columbia, led by Minnesota, Washington, and Oregon, are suing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over threats to withdraw federal funding from sexual education programs that include references to trans and nonbinary identities.

The lawsuit, targets the Title V Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) and Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), which provide funding for teaching about contraception, abstinence, and adolescent health, especially for high-risk youth, including those in foster care or experiencing homelessness. The states argue that HHS’s demands to remove trans-inclusive content violate federal law, undermine Congress’s spending authority, and could result in at least $35 million in lost funding.

The suit claims the administration is forcing states to “erase entire categories of students” and calls the action “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act. In one example, California lost $12 million in PREP funds after refusing to remove trans-inclusive material.

HHS defends its actions as protecting children from “gender ideology” and says federal funding should reflect “the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left,” though critics argue gender identity is directly relevant to topics like adolescent development, healthy relationships, and communication.

The lawsuit frames the administration’s approach as part of a broader campaign to exclude trans people from public life and deny recognition of their identities, according to LGBTQ Nation.