DOGE mischaracterizes a study as transgender, and USDA cancels it [View all]
Source: CBS News
March 10, 2025 / 1:19 PM EDT
Last Friday, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins stated on X that a $600,000 grant to Southern University in Louisiana was being revoked for studying "menstrual cycles in transgender men," in the latest mischaracterization of a grant that was then canceled by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency team, known as DOGE. DOGE highlighted the Rollins post, reposting it on the official doge.gov website and on X. The grant was actually intended for research on the potential health risks posed by synthetic feminine hygiene products and for developing alternatives using natural fibers and fabrics, according to the project's documentation, which was publicly filed on the USDA website.
According to that documentation, the goals of the grant were to develop sustainable feminine hygiene products using regenerative cotton, wool, and industrial hemp while enhancing education through an extension program that teaches women and girls about menstrual health and reusable products. It also would have funded a fiber processing center for locally grown fibers in Louisiana — potentially benefiting a state with some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the country.
The USDA's decision to cancel the grant appears to have been a result of the grant being flagged to the Trump administration by the American Principles Project, a conservative think tank. Cailey Myers, a spokesperson for the American Principles Project, said in an email to CBS News, "This grant clearly denies biological reality — men don't menstruate," but did not provide any evidence the grant funded research into "menstrual cycles in transgender men."
A USDA spokesperson confirmed this reasoning in a statement emailed to CBS News, saying the taxpayer-funded education component of the grant "prioritized women identifying as men who might menstruate." "This mission certainly does not align with the priorities and policies of the Trump Administration, which maintains that there are two sexes: male and female," the statement said. While the grant language does include a single sentence acknowledging that transgender men are among those who menstruate, there was no indication that they were the focus of the grant or even part of it. The passing reference to transgender men in the original grant application appears to be the sole justification for its cancellation.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-mischaracterizes-study-as-transgender-usda-cancels-it/
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