PORTLAND, Ore. — Sixteen states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday, 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 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.

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