FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump reacts after signing a memorandum in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 15, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/ File Photo

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) -A coalition of Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking to block President Donald Trump's administration from requiring them to remove all references to "gender ideology" from sexual health education curricula in order to receive federal grant funding.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Eugene, Oregon, argued that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' new policy is unlawful and usurps Congress' authority over spending in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

They argued the administration unlawfully wanted them to "rewrite sexual health curricula to erase entire categories of students," as part of its latest effort to target transgender youth.

HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The department adopted the policy after the Republican president on his first day back in office on January 20 signed an executive order directing the government to recognize only two sexes - male and female - and required agencies to ensure grant funds do not promote what he dubbed "gender ideology."

HHS on August 26 sent letters to 46 states and territories demanding they remove all references to "gender ideology" contained in sexual education curricula and materials funded through the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP).

The program educates young people on abstinence and contraception to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, with particular focus on children who are homeless or living in foster care or in areas with high teen birth rates.

The department sent those letters after issuing notices earlier in August that recipients of grants from the PREP and the Title V Sexual Risk Avoidance Education programs could not teach students "that gender identity is distinct from biological sex or boys can identify as girls and vice versa."

HHS also terminated California’s PREP grant after the state failed to meet its demand to modify its educational materials.

In Friday's lawsuit, the states said the administration's policy was at odds with the requirements Congress set when it created the two programs and put them at risk of losing at least $35 million if they do not remove "medically accurate, non-discriminatory information within those programs."

“The federal government’s far-reaching efforts to erase people who don’t fit one of two gender labels is illegal and wrong—and would deny services to millions more in the process,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Chris Reese and Diane Craft)