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Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield on Friday filed a multi-state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seeking to preempt recent threats to pull funding from sex-ed programs over mentions of “radical gender ideology.”
Rayfield is co-leading the lawsuit with attorneys general from Washington and Minnesota. Fifteen other states and the District of Columbia have also signed on.
The Trump administration has targeted two Oregon programs for including references to gender and LGBTQ+ identities.
My Future My Choice, a program educating six and eighth graders about puberty, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, is funded through federal Sexual Risk Avoidance Education, and is being singled out for mentions of gender identity.
In late August, the Oregon Health Authority also received a letter from the Administration for Children and Families, a government bureau wrapped into the Department of Health and Human Services. OHA runs the state’s Personal Responsibility Education Program, also known as PREP, which funds sexuality education for Oregon teens with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
In the letter to the OHA, the department outlined dozens of subjects “outside of scope” that it wanted removed. Some examples include spelling out the acronym LGBTQ; a point about how gender identity and expression may not match assigned gender at birth; and definitions for terms like gender, gender fluidity and gender nonconforming.
Oregon stands to lose $1.6 million in PREP funding. It is not immediately clear how many SRAE dollars it could lose.
“Every parent wants their kids to grow up safe, healthy, and prepared to make good choices,” Rayfield said in a release. “Programs like My Future My Choice give young people the tools to do just that—helping them avoid risky situations, build strong relationships, and stay on track for their future. Pulling funding from proven, effective programs doesn’t protect kids—it puts them at greater risk.”
In an email to WW, Emily Hilliard, press secretary with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says the department does not comment on pending litigation. But she referred WW to a past statement on the department’s position.
“HHS remains committed to its mission of removing racial gender and DEI ideology from federal programs, subject to applicable law, to ensure taxpayer dollars deliver meaningful results for the American people,” Hilliard wrote.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, and alleges the administration’s attempt to get states to rewrite sex-ed curricula is its latest attempt “to target and harm transgender and gender-diverse youth as well as youth with differences in sex development.” It alleges that the position the federal government is now taking in regards to sex-ed curricula is a rapid and inconsistent change from administrations past.
“HHS’s actions are also a radical departure from how PREP and SRAE have historically been implemented,” the lawsuit reads. “Consistent with the enabling statutes’ requirements, Plaintiff States have implemented medically accurate, complete, and culturally appropriate sexual health education curricula that recognize and affirm gender identity.”
Blair Stenvick, spokesperson for Basic Rights Oregon, told WW in August that the Trump administration’s cuts to sex-ed curricula would affect queer and trans youth. Inclusive curricula, Stenvick said, helps many “feel affirmed and included at school.”
“By cutting out any mention of LGBTQ2SIA+ issues, this policy would put queer and trans young people at higher risk for STIs and sexual assault. Additionally, it will add to the harmful narrative that being LGBTQ2SIA+ is something to be ashamed of or kept secret,” Stenvick said. “Removing these lessons in Oregon would put yet another burden on some of our most vulnerable kids.”
