Trump administration cuts CA sex ed funding over transgender content
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FEDS CUT SEX ED FUNDING OVER TRANSGENDER POLICY
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced Thursday that it had followed through with its threat to terminate a grant that funds sexual health education for at-risk youth because California refused to remove “concerning gender ideology content.”
The $12 million grant helps fund the California Personal Responsibility Education Program, which provides sexual and reproductive health education to teenagers, often in settings where vulnerable youth live such as foster care group homes and juvenile justice facilities.
In March, the Administration for Children and Families asked California to submit its PREP curricula for review. The program allegedly contained content related to gender ideology, which “exceeded the program’s statutory purposes,” HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said in a statement.
In a Thursday letter sent to the California Department of Public Health, which oversees the program, ACF Acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison said the federal government would terminate the grant because California did not “remove all references to gender ideology.”
“California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,” Gradison said in a statement.
The Department of Public Health praised the state’s current program for improving the health of Californians by reducing the rate of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. CDPH spokesperson Grant Boyken said that the educational program is age-appropriate, comprehensive and medically accurate. Boyken noted that the curriculum was previously approved by the federal administration. In 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first term, ACF published profiles of states’ programs that were awarded grants, including California’s PREP. Those profiles were current as of this March.
“California’s students deserve access to educational information and materials that help them make healthy decisions about sexual activity, including the decision to delay sexual activity, while honoring and respecting their dignity, including gender identity,” Boyken said in a Thursday statement.
California law requires districts to provide sexual health education to students in high school and middle school. The department did not respond to questions about whether the state would fill in the funding gap.
The funding cut is the latest development in the Trump administration’s effort to overturn the rights of transgender Californians.
In July, the Republican administration sued California, alleging the state violated anti-discrimination laws by allowing transgender athletes to play sports with girls. Earlier this year, Trump issued an executive order to withhold federal dollars from schools that allow transgender students to participate in female sports.
SEEING DOUBLE
Thursday morning two California gubernatorial candidates celebrated recent endorsements they each had secured.
“I am honored and humbled to have earned PORAC’s endorsement, the largest public safety organization in the state,” Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement Thursday morning.
Republican Chad Bianco sent out a similar statement Thursday: “I am honored to have the endorsement of PORAC, California’s largest law enforcement organization.”
PORAC, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, took the unique step of endorsing candidates from both major parties this week. The group said that Bianco and Villaraigosa had achieved “real results on public safety” while addressing issues California police officers are facing.
“Our endorsement of one candidate from each major political party reflects PORAC’s commitment as a nonpartisan organization to backing proven public safety champions regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum,” the association’s statement read.
This is the first time the organization had endorsed two candidates in the gubernatorial race.
PORAC President Brian Marvel said Bianco, Riverside County’s sheriff, understands the challenges and pressures of working in law enforcement because the gubernatorial candidate has worked in law enforcement for over three decades.
“California needs a governor who puts victims first, holds criminals accountable, and backs law enforcement with real resources,” Marvel said of Bianco.
Marvel pointed to Villaraigosa’s public safety success as the former mayor of Los Angeles as the reason for his group’s endorsement.
Villaraigosa’s “proven leadership unites people to solve tough public safety challenges, exactly what California needs to thrive,” Marvel said.
KAMALA HARRIS ON TOUR
After nearly a year largely in the shadows, former Vice President Kamala Harris is traversing the country to promote her soon-to-be-published book detailing her 107 days on the presidential campaign trail.
The book, which goes on sale Sept. 23, details the breakneck presidential campaign Harris undertook after former President Joe Biden was pressured to drop out of the race because of his age.
In “107 Days,” Harris writes about her experience on the campaign trail and her vision for the country now that Presidential Donald Trump is in office. An upbeat announcement video of the “107 Days” book tour shows packed arenas chanting the former vice president’s name but makes no reference to the conclusion of that election.
The former VP is traveling around America on a 15-city book tour from Sept. 24 to Nov. 20.
She’ll make two stops in the Golden State: The Wiltern theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 29 and The Masonic theater in San Francisco on Oct. 5.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We move forward fighting fire with fire, what happens? You burn it all down.”
— Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said of Democrats’ redistricting efforts Thursday during a debate over legislation to redraw the Golden State’s congressional maps.
Best of The Bee:
- Amid partisan sparring, California lawmakers send new map to Newsom’s desk, via Kate Wolffe and Nicole Nixon
- JD Vance tells Gavin Newsom: Stop trying to be like Trump, via David Lightman
- California Supreme Court issues decision on Republican redistricting challenge, via Stephen Hobbs
- Jennifer Siebel Newsom says California is ‘just getting started’ on tech regulation, via Kate Wolffe
