California Faces Funding Threat Over Gender Ideology in Education
The Department of Health and Human Services has mandated California to eliminate gender ideology from federally funded educational materials within 60 days or risk losing funding.
HHS demands California abandon gender ideology in sex ed program
Washington Examiner
Overview
- The Department of Health and Human Services issued an ultimatum to California regarding educational curriculum funded by federal grants.
- California has 60 days to remove references to gender ideology from its sex education curricula.
- The ultimatum follows a review request by the ACF for California's PREP materials for medical accuracy in March 2025.
- Failure to comply with the ultimatum may result in the loss of federal funding for California's educational programs.
- The demands reflect ongoing tensions between federal guidelines and state educational policies on gender issues.
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FAQ
The HHS identified eight passages in California's PREP materials that discussed gender identity, including definitions of gender identity as a person's deep-seated internal sense of being gendered and statements that some men are born with female anatomy and some women with male anatomy, which the department deemed outside the scope of the federally funded program.
California's PREP aims to reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections by educating youth ages 10-19 about abstinence and contraception. The federal government, via HHS, views the program's scope as focused strictly on these areas and not intended to include education on gender identity or gender ideology, which led to the demand for removal of such content.
If California fails to remove the gender ideology references from its federally funded sex education materials within 60 days, it risks losing the federal funding allocated for the PREP program, which amounted to about $5.8 million in fiscal year 2023.
The dispute occurs amid ongoing tensions between federal guidelines under the Trump administration, which issued policies limiting federal recognition of transgender identities, and California's inclusive educational policies. The federal administration views the inclusion of gender identity in sex education as an overreach of the program's intended purpose, while advocates see the audit and demands as a political attack on transgender and nonbinary communities.
Prior to the ultimatum, the federal government, through the Administration for Children and Families under HHS, conducted a medical accuracy review of California's PREP materials following a request in March 2025. This review concluded that the curriculum was not in compliance with the authorizing statute, as it included gender ideology content beyond the program's intended focus.
History
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