(The Center Square) — Federal officials sent a letter to California ordering it remove all “gender ideology references” from the state’s federally-funded sexual education program for at-risk youth between the ages of 10 and 19 — which is separate from the general K-12 program.
“We are aware that this curricula and other program materials were previously approved by ACF,” wrote the federal Administration for Children and Families. “However, the prior administration erred in allowing PREP grants to be used to teach students gender ideology because that approval exceeded the agency’s authority to administer the program consistent with the authorizing legislation as enacted by Congress.”
While state data shows the program has been effective in promoting “condom knowledge,” federal officials flagged several course materials, such as lessons for middle-schoolers about transgender identification, for removal.
This state program, called PREP — which shares a name with the prominent HIV prevention drug — “provides comprehensive sexual health education to adolescents via effective, evidence-based program models,” and “focuses on how to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.”
High-risk youth who receive instruction through the program include those who “reside, attend school or receive reproductive health services in a high-need geographic area,” are homeless, in continuation school, in foster care, emancipated, in the juvenile justice or probation system, identify as LGBTQ, receive mental health or substance abuse treatment, have special needs, live in “migrant farmworker families,” or are a female up until age 21 who is expecting or parenting.
Program data shows that “youth condom knowledge” for program participants rose from 33.6% for males and 22% for females rose to 74.4% and 70.2% respectively. But it’s unclear if much of this increase could have been to the young age of the participants and the resulting lack of prior exposure.
According to the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state was first informed of the removal request through Fox News, not official channels.
“We are reviewing the letter, which we were first made aware of via Fox News, not HHS. To be clear: This is NOT California’s K-12 sex education curriculum,” said Newsom spokesperson Elana Ross to the Center Square. “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.”
The letter from ACF made eight specific removal requests after reviewing PREP material for exceeding PREP’s authorizing statute.
Included in the removal requests are two materials for middle schoolers, four for middle schoolers, and two general lessons.
The “Teen Talk Middle School” curriculum document, for example, says, “If someone’s sex assigned at birth does not match with their gender identity, or how they feel inside, they might identify as ‘transgender.’ For example: if someone is born with female body parts, hormones, and DNA, and inside they feel like a man.”
The “Teen Talk High School” curriculum document then defines multiple forms of gender transitioning, defining social transitioning as “telling others about their gender identity, changing their name, asking others to address them using a new name and/or gender pronouns, and changing their gender expression to better reflect their identity.” It defines medical transitioning as “altering their body by going through hormone therapy (using testosterone or estrogen) or having gender-affirming surgeries. Common surgeries include top surgery (adding or removing breast tissue) and bottom surgery (transforming the genitals).”
Notably, these medical transitions are covered as a benefit under taxpayer-funded Medi-Cal. At least 2,084 California children received gender reassignment procedures from 2019 through 2023.
