- Trump administration warns Michigan it will lose funding if it doesn’t remove ‘gender ideology’ from sexual education materials
- More than $3 million is at risk, according to the federal government
- A state House committee also approved a bill that would ban trans students from school bathrooms of their gender
LANSING — Michigan must stop making references to gender identity in sex educational materials provided to schools or risk losing millions of dollars in federal funding, according to President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a Tuesday letter to the state health department, the federal Administration for Children and Families mandated that Michigan “remove all content concerning gender ideology from its curricula, program materials and any other aspects of its program delivery within 60 days.”
The order is specific to sex ed curriculum materials the state provides through its federally funded Personal Responsibility Education Program.
Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families, pointed to specific parts of the curriculum he said include “gender ideology,” which he argued is outside the scope of the law that gives states funding for sexual education.
“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,” Gradison wrote in the letter.
Related:
- Doctors under pressure as U-M ends gender-affirming care for minors
- Historic day for LGBTQ rights, as anti-discrimination bill goes to Whitmer
- Michigan House holds Jocelyn Benson in contempt, votes to ban trans athletes
Michigan receives about $3.4 million a year from the federal government to fund the program, which is taught to students from ages 12 to 18.
The classes promote abstinence but also teach about proper contraceptive use and sexually transmitted diseases. In the last legislative session under Democratic control, lawmakers had proposed overhauling the program to include distributing condoms, among other changes.
Michigan’s current curriculum materials teach students about gender identity, gender expression and pronouns. There are also lessons that tell students biological sex is different from gender, define transgender and gender-nonconforming people and what it means to identify in that way.
Those references must be removed from classroom instruction, Gradison wrote, instructing the state to also eliminate a section urging students to “respect diversity.”
Asked about the federal letter, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said only that it was under review.
Bathroom bills
Opposition to transgender inclusion has become a rallying cry for many conservatives fighting what they call “gender ideology.”
The debate is at the heart of a bill advancing in Michigan’s Republican-led House that aims to restrict bathroom use at schools and colleges on the basis of biological sex.
Sponsoring Rep. Joseph Fox, R-Fremont, suggested Wednesday that allowing transgender students to use bathrooms of the gender they identify with is “traumatizing little girls.” He called it a “safety issue.”
Fox didn’t explain how inclusive bathroom policies have made students unsafe or provide examples of individuals who have been traumatized.
“A biologically male student who identifies as female may choose to undress in the presence of biologically female students, which stirs fear in our daughters and granddaughters,” he said in testimony before the Education and Workforce Committee voted to advance the legislation to the full state House.
Under the legislation schools could still provide gender-neutral restrooms, but they couldn’t offer space for more than one occupant at a time.
At least 20 other states have passed laws restricting transgender people from using the bathroom of their identified gender in at least some public buildings since 2020, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a Colorado-based think tank.
As introduced, the Michigan bill does not specify any punishment for schools that violate the proposed law — or even how schools would ensure the law is not broken.
“Who’s doing the genital checks on these kids?” asked Rep. Jimmie Wilson, a Democrat from Ypsilanti.
Fox called the question facetious.
‘Practicing for when we take control’
Other Democrats on the committee argued the legislation was an attempt to distract from a long-running state budget impasse, drawing objections from Republican legislators. It’s been nearly two months since lawmakers missed the statutory July 1 budget deadline, leaving schools across the state to finalize their own budgets without knowing how much funding they’ll receive from the state.
Kyle Zawacki, of the American Civil Liberties Union, strongly criticized the legislation, saying it would violate a 2020 US Supreme Court decision, along with a 2023 state law that banned discrimination against Michiganders on the basis of gender identity.
The proposal, he said, would “institutionalize gender policing in Michigan public schools,” he said. It “includes no enforcement mechanisms” and “apparently deputizes school staff to become gender enforcers, compelling them to scrutinize student bodies.”
Zawacki told Bridge Michigan that should the proposal become law, “the state would and should expect litigation very strongly from not just our organization, but many organizations across the state.”
In an interview, Fox said the Bible was his guidance for the legislation, telling Bridge Michigan “that very much lies behind all this.”
The bill is the latest in a series of bills that, if approved by the House, is unlikely to advance in the Michigan Senate, which is currently controlled by Democrats.
But it is still useful, Fox said.
Republicans are “practicing for when we take control of the Senate and the governor’s seat,” he said, referencing 2026 elections.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com
