Trump administration tells states to remove references to ‘gender ideology’ from sex ed materials

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press President Donald Trump s administration this week reported states to eliminate parts of lessons that focus on LGBTQ issues from federally funded sexual coaching materials or that they will lose funding The move is the latest in a line of efforts 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 Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas Acting Assistant Fitness and Human System Secretary Andrew Gradison commented in a message That position contradicts what the American Physiological Association and other mainstream medicinal 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 Tuition Activity total over million for the states plus the District of Columbia and five territories where personnel were also sent the letter The functionaries were recounted they have days to change the lessons or could lose their grants California was warned previously and the million grant for that state was stripped on Aug Now other states will have until late October to decide whether to comply or give up the funding Connecticut Attorney General William Tong also suggested there could be legal challenges to the administration s effort Threatening to defund our schools over this is wholly unhinged and we re not going to let Trump steal money from our kids he explained in a comment The grants are used to teach adolescents about abstinence and contraception They target mentoring 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 Alison Macklin spokesperson for SIECUS Sex Ed for Social Change revealed the grant money is used for things like training sex development instructors and for groups that present lessons in schools or after-school groups This money is essential to states and territories to encouragement sex teaching she declared They build critical life skills for young people Related Articles As Trump threatens more Guard troops in US cities here s what the law allows Chicago is in the Trump administration s sights for its next immigration crackdown Want to work for National Weather Provision Be ready to explain how you agree with Trump Sen Ernst of Iowa is expected to announce next month that she won t run for reelection in Appeals court blocks Trump administration from ending legal protections for Venezuelans She noted that particular states have laws requiring teaching about lesbian gay and transgender people In the letters the federal Administration for Children and Families pointed to specific examples in textbooks and curricula that they find objectionable For instance a curriculum used in Alabama encourages the instructor to ask participants to share the pronouns they use It also tells the instructor to tell the class that people may identify as gay lesbian bisexual or straight Particular may identify as male female or transgender All of these differences make us unique Regardless of how you see yourself your background previous relationships or experience each of you has a place in this group South Carolina Gov Henry McMaster applauded the warnings during a question-and-answer period with reporters this week The things they describe there really have got no business being in there he noted Somebody has gone crazy somewhere trying to put all this stuff in lessons Associated Press reporters Jeffrey Collins in Columbia South Carolina and Susan Haigh in Hartford Connecticut contributed to this article