Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have sued the US Department of Health and Human Services, alleging that its threats to pull sexual education funding over curricula mentioning diverse gender identities were a violation of federal law. The complaint filed in federal court in Oregon on Friday says the department is attempting to force the states to "rewrite sexual health curricula to erase entire categories of students" and describes the action as "the latest attempt from the current administration to target and harm transgender and gender-diverse youth".

HHS did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration has sought to recognize people as only male or female. HHS wants to prohibit the inclusion of what it describes as "gender ideology" in lessons funded by the Personal Responsibility Education Programme (PREP) and the Title V Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) programme. The federal grants are used to teach about abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. The plaintiffs say the grant conditions HHS is seeking to impose violate federal law, the separation of powers and Congress' spending power.