Michigan and California became flashpoints in the intensifying national debate over transgender rights, youth health care, and education policy this past week, as federal actions triggered sweeping changes in both states’ approaches to gender-affirming care and sex education for minors.
On August 25, 2025, Michigan Medicine—the University of Michigan’s esteemed medical center—announced it would no longer offer gender-affirming hormone therapy or puberty blockers for patients under the age of 19. The decision, which stunned families and advocacy groups across the state, followed receipt of a federal subpoena as part of a criminal and civil investigation into gender-affirming care for minors. In a statement quoted by the Detroit Free Press, a Michigan Medicine spokeswoman explained, “The University of Michigan, including Michigan Medicine, is one of multiple institutions across the country that has received a federal subpoena as part of a criminal and civil investigation into gender-affirming care for minors. In light of that investigation, and given escalating external threats and risks, we will no longer provide gender affirming hormonal therapies and puberty blocker medications for minors.”
The abrupt policy halt has left many Michigan families scrambling. Advocacy organizations were swift and unequivocal in their condemnation. Erin Knott, executive director of the LGBTQ+ rights organization Equality Michigan, told the Free Press, “It appears to us that the sole reason for halting care was the mounting pressure and threats from the Trump administration, and the weaponization of all aspects of the federal government to harm these families and their providers.” She added, “Trans youth and their families are already navigating a climate of fear and uncertainty. This decision only deepens that trauma. We are heartbroken—for the young people being told their care no longer matters, for the parents now scrambling to find safe alternatives, and for the community that must once again rise to fill the void left by institutions that should know better.”
Roz Keith, executive director and founder of Stand With Trans, a Detroit-based support group for transgender youth, said her organization is working to connect families with private practice physicians still willing to treat minors. “The most important thing to keep in mind is that gender-affirming care...and everything that goes along with it is not illegal in the state of Michigan,” Keith emphasized. “It is absolutely legal to receive care and to get treated with hormones. We want people to know that...The rights in Michigan are the same as they’ve been. This has to do with federally-funded institutions who are being threatened by our government.”
While gender-affirming care for minors remains legal in Michigan, the chilling effect of federal scrutiny has forced major providers to withdraw, pushing families into a patchwork system of private care. Equality Michigan and Stand With Trans have pledged to continue supporting affected youth and their families, vowing to ensure “every trans young person in our state has access to the care, dignity and respect they deserve.”
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the country, California found itself embroiled in a parallel battle—this time over education. On the same day as the Michigan announcement, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revoked a $12 million sex education grant to California, citing the state’s refusal to remove transgender and gender identity content from its curriculum. In a letter to the California Department of Public Health, HHS wrote, “the funded programs and services include gender ideology, which is outside the scope of the statute.” The grant in question, part of the federal Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), supports states in teaching students about contraception and abstinence, with a focus on vulnerable populations such as teens in foster care or experiencing homelessness.
California officials, however, declined to comply with the federal demand. Their response, quoted in the HHS letter, stated the state would “not make any such modifications at this time.” The curriculum in question instructs teachers to remind students that not all people feel on the inside like the sex they were assigned at birth—a point of contention for the current administration. HHS, in its statement, claimed that “gender ideology” was “irrelevant to teaching abstinence and contraception and unrelated to any of the adult preparation subjects” the grant covers, which include “adolescent development,” “parent-child communication,” and “healthy relationships.” Critics, including California officials, argue that gender identity is inextricably linked to these very topics.
Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary at HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, appeared on Fox News to defend the move, warning that about 40 more states would soon be scrutinized for similar content in their PREP curricula. He declared, “If you continue to push radical ideology on our children, we will not pay for it anymore,” and further admonished, “Stop indoctrinating the next generation. They deserve better. They need to learn how to read and write, not this anti-science agenda.”
The controversy is not limited to sex education. The federal government has also sued California over its refusal to ban transgender girls from participating in school sports, a right protected by state law since 2013. The California Healthy Youth Act, which mandates teaching about gender identity and expression in sex education classes, remains in force despite federal pressure. President Trump, in a Truth Social post last week, reiterated his administration’s stance: “Any California school district that doesn’t adhere to our Transgender policies, will not be funded. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has not taken these threats quietly. Over the past week, he has used social media to publicly challenge the federal government’s approach, engaging in pointed exchanges that have captured national attention. Some observers suggest Newsom’s online “trolling” may have provoked the latest escalation from Washington.
These federal actions—halting medical care for trans youth in Michigan and withdrawing education funding from California—have set off alarm bells among LGBTQ+ advocates nationwide. According to Reuters, the PREP program’s special focus on at-risk youth means the loss of funding could have far-reaching consequences for some of the most vulnerable students in California, particularly those experiencing homelessness or living in foster care.
Supporters of the federal moves argue that the government is simply enforcing statutory limits on how taxpayer dollars are spent, insisting that “gender ideology” is unrelated to the core missions of abstinence and contraception education or federally funded health care. Detractors, however, see a pattern of targeting transgender youth and their families, using the machinery of federal power to restrict access to care and information. The debate is as much about who decides what children learn and how they are treated as it is about the specifics of hormone therapy or sex education curricula.
As the legal and political battles continue, families, educators, and health care providers in Michigan and California are left navigating a rapidly shifting landscape. Some, like Roz Keith and Erin Knott, are determined to fill the gaps left by institutions under federal scrutiny. Others brace for further disruptions as the administration signals its intent to expand these policies nationwide.
For now, the stories unfolding in Michigan and California serve as stark reminders that the intersection of politics, health care, and education is anything but settled—and that the lives of young people hang in the balance as the country debates what it means to support, or restrict, their right to be themselves.
