A federal judge in Oregon signaled she will stop the Trump administration from enforcing a directive that would strip millions in federal grants from states refusing to erase references to “gender ideology” from sex education materials.
The case—brought by Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, and a coalition of 16 states plus the District of Columbia—centers on a rule requiring states to align federally funded health curricula with the administration’s narrow definition of sex and gender.
Judge Ann Aiken said she plans to issue an injunction blocking the order, which she described as a “separate-but-equal” approach to education policy, inconsistent with congressional intent.
The Department of Health and Human Services had warned states they could lose roughly $35 million in Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grants if they did not comply. These grants fund programs teaching young people about contraception, abstinence, and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections—particularly for vulnerable youth such as those in foster care or facing homelessness.
During a tense hearing, a representative for Washington state argued that the policy amounted to “editing transgender kids out of their curricula.” The administration countered that it merely sought to ensure that federally funded education “does not teach that boys can be girls and girls can be boys.”
The directive stems from President Trump’s executive order on his first day back in office, which mandated federal agencies to recognize only two sexes—male and female—and to bar funding for what he labeled “gender ideology.”
Following that order, HHS sent letters to 46 states and territories in August demanding revisions to sex education materials under the PREP and Title V programs. California’s PREP funding was later revoked for failing to comply.
Judge Aiken’s forthcoming injunction is expected to block the rule nationwide, marking one of the first major judicial pushbacks against Trump’s sweeping social policy agenda.
