Alabama is one of 40 states that received letters from the Trump administration on Tuesday demanding the removal of gender ideology, such as a student’s choice of preferred pronouns, from a sex education curriculum that is funded with a federal grant.
The Administration for Children and Families, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told states to remove the gender ideology references from the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) within 60 days.
The language does not fall within the scope of the PREP grant, and the Alabama Department of Public Health could forfeit $2.1 million in federal funding if it fails to remove the material, the ACF said.
The ACF had approved the language during the Biden administration, the letter says.
Acting assistant ACF Secretary Andrew Gradison wrote the letters to states.
“Accountability is coming,” Gradison said in a press release. “Federal funds will not be used to poison the minds of the next generation or advance dangerous ideological agendas.
“The Trump Administration will ensure that PREP reflects the intent of Congress, not the priorities of the left.”
State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said ADPH was not aware of the concern with the PREP program until receiving the letter Tuesday.
Harris said PREP is a high school sex education program available to public schools upon request.
“We’ve had it in our state since about 2010,” Harris said. “Just about every state has it. We present that curriculum in schools if schools ask us to do so.
“It’s just a resource that we have if people want us to use it. We’re not actually teaching it anywhere in the state right now because no one has requested it.”
Harris said the issue did not come up when the ACF reviewed the ADPH programs earlier this year.
“We had an inspection and audit from the Administration of Families and Children in June, and they said we did everything fine,” Harris said. “We had no findings and signed off on everything.
“But then we received this letter yesterday. So we’re looking at that material and we’ll make sure we’re compliant with whatever we need to be compliant with.”
Gradison’s letter gives some examples of the gender ideology language in the PREP curriculum that he said falls outside the scope of what the PREP grant authorizes:
“Asking participants to tell you their pronouns is a way of creating a safe space for transgender or gender nonconforming youth. Model what you want participants to say by giving your own pronouns. Some transgender youth might have typical pronouns (he/she/his/her/their) or they might request more creative pronouns such as hir or zir.
“Pronouns don’t always line up with what observers might expect based on a person’s perceived biological sex. The simple act of requesting pronouns sends the message that transgender and gender nonconforming youth are welcome and respected in the group.”
The PREP grants are intended to educate students on topics such as abstinence, contraception, and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, Gradison’s letter says.
Gender ideology is irrelevant to that, the letter says:
“The statute neither requires, supports nor authorizes teaching students that gender identity is distinct from biological sex or that boys can identify as girls and vice versa; thus, gender ideology is outside the scope of the authorizing statute and any expenditures associated with gender ideology are not allowable, reasonable, or allocable to the PREP grant.”
The letter acknowledges that the gender ideology language was previously approved.
“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.
“Alabama’s current PREP curricula and program materials are out of compliance with the PREP statute and HHS regulations and must be modified.”
State Sen. Chris Elliott, a Republican from Baldwin County, said the Trump administration raised concerns with Alabama lawmakers during a meeting in Washington a few weeks ago, including concerns about some language used in Alabama Department of Public Health programs.
Elliott did not remember specifics but said the concerns were over diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, as well as the state’s establishment of the Alabama Office of Minority Affairs.
Harris said Monday he had not heard anything from the Trump administration about that.
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