Trump admin. threatens to pull funding for CA sex ed program over 'disturbing gender ideology'
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The Trump Administration is threatening to withhold more funding from California because of a sex education program.
The Department of Health and Human Services says the program is not compliant with federal law, citing content about gender identity.
The Trump Administration is taking aim at a sex education program aimed at helping transgender and nonbinary kids, giving California 60 days to get rid of content teaching students about gender identity.
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The administration warned a failure to meet the deadline could risk a funding cut.
"If this language is taken away, I think it creates more harms in these communities," Christian Garcia with Planned Parenthood Northern California said. "I think it creates more division. And you're basically depriving a generation from really understanding what these issues mean."
In a letter sent to the California Department of Public Health, the US. Department of Health and Human Services condemned the program, which goes into places like youth homeless shelters.
The federal department stating in part, "The Trump Administration will not tolerate the use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children. The disturbing gender ideology content in California's PREP materials is both unacceptable and well outside the program's core purpose"
Tom Temprano, Managing Director of Equality California, says the program goes beyond the LGBTQ+ youth community.
"Threatening to take away really critical funding that isn't just meant to support LGBTQ students but meant to reduce teen pregnancies and teen STI rates, that's what the Trump Administration is doing," he said.
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Governor Newsom's office saying it is reviewing the letter.
"To be clear: this is NOT California's K-12 sex education curriculum," the governor's office said. "The California Personal Responsibility Education Program (CA PREP), which receives barely $6 million in federal funding, provides comprehensive sexual health education to adolescents via an effective, evidence-based program model."
"When you do the work that we do of educating young people and families about a variety of services, testing, treatment, sex, safe-sex, and whatnot, you want to have inclusive language," Garcia said. "You want to talk about transgender binary issues because it allows people to destigmatize any kind of beliefs or thoughts around it."
This move comes on the heels of the Supreme Court upholding a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for transgender children.
The Trump Administration also recently cut funding to a suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth.
"Most of the things they've actually tried to do have been tied up or struck down in the courts and we're hoping this action would meet the same fate," Temprano said.
