The federal government has ended a major grant for California sex education over the state’s refusal to eliminate trans and gender identity content from course materials.

A letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) states that “the funded programs and services include gender ideology, which is outside the scope of the statute.”

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The letter quotes California officials’ response to its initial request it remove the material, which declared the state would “not make any such modifications at this time.” 

HHS also claims that “gender ideology” is “irrelevant to teaching abstinence and contraception and unrelated to any of the adult preparation subjects” the grant covers. Yet, those subjects – listed in the letter – include “adolescent development,” “parent-child communication,” “healthy relationships,” and other topics in which a student’s gender identity would play a role.

“The statute does not require, support, or authorize 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,” HHS wrote. 

An HHS press release announcing the revocation of the grant took it even farther, claiming the state’s “disturbing and egregious abuse of federal funds” was using taxpayer dollars to “encourage kids to contemplate mutilating their genitals.” 

In reality, the curriculum merely instructs teachers to remind children that not all people feel on the inside like the sex they were assigned at birth on the outside.

The grant was part of the federal Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), which supports states in teaching students about both contraception and abstinence. The program has a special focus on places with high rates of teen birth as well as on working with kids who are homeless or in foster care, Reuters reported.

According to Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary at HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, the grant was worth about $12 million.

Gradison appeared on Fox News to discuss the revocation of California’s grant. Referring to the state’s refusal to comply, he joked to the host, “FAFO,” an acronym for the phrase, “f**k around and find out.”

“If you continue to push radical ideology on our children, we will not pay for it anymore,” he said, adding that about 40 more states will soon be put on notice regarding their PREP curriculum. 

“Stop indoctrinating the next generation,” he said. “They deserve better. They need to learn how to read and write, not this anti-science agenda.” 

The move comes as the administration sued the state over its refusal to ban trans girls from school sports. The state of California has had a law allowing trans kids to participate in school sports as their gender since 2013 and has refused to violate it despite funding threats from the federal government.

Similarly, the California Healthy Youth Act mandates teaching about gender identity and expression in sex education classes.

Last week, the president re-emphasized his threats to the state on Truth Social. “Any California school district that doesn’t adhere to our Transgender policies, will not be funded. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he stated with no further explanation.

Over the past week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has been trolling him on social media, which may have motivated the highly sensitive president’s message Thursday morning.