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Quick Take
The Department of Agriculture announced the cancellation of a $600,000 grant to study the development of feminine hygiene products made of natural fibers. The USDA, Department of Government Efficiency and social media posts misleadingly claimed the study was of “menstrual cycles in transgender men.” The university behind the study said it was focused on making safer products to “benefit all biological women.”
Full Story
Southern University in Baton Rouge was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2024 to research and develop feminine hygiene products made of natural, healthy and safe materials grown in Louisiana, as opposed to synthetic products. The project completion date was scheduled for April 14, 2027.
But on March 7, newly sworn-in Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the government had revoked the grant, posting on X, “CANCELLED: $600,000 grant to study ‘menstrual cycles in transgender men’ Keep sending us tips. THANK YOU, @approject! The insanity is ending and the restoration of America is underway.” Rollins’ announcement was reposted by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which had cancelled the grant, CBS News reported.
In her post, Rollins thanked the American Principles Project, a “pro-family” organization, for bringing the Southern University grant to the USDA’s attention. APP spokesperson Cailey Myers told CBS News, “This grant clearly denies biological reality — men don’t menstruate.”
A USDA spokesperson said in a statement to CBS News that the grant “prioritized women identifying as men who might menstruate” and that “certainly does not align with the priorities and policies of the Trump Administration, which maintains that there are two sexes: male and female.”
President Donald Trump has signed a series of executive orders affecting transgender people, including an order that states, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.” In response to Trump’s executive orders, many government websites have removed references to transgender people, NBC News reported. A transgender person is someone whose gender identity doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth. A transgender man is someone who is assigned female at birth and identifies as male.
But the American Principles Project and the USDA mischaracterized the reference to transgender men in the Southern University grant.
That misrepresentation of the study also has been shared across social media, including in an Instagram post of a Fox News headline. A Threads post said, “DOGE has cancelled a $600,000 grant to Southern University and A&M College. The money was going to fund a study on the menstrual cycles of transgender men.” The caption on another Threads post said, “You literally can’t make this sh*t up.”
A Study of Products, Not Menstrual Cycles
The claims about the study are based on one reference to transgender men in the grant proposal and misrepresent the purpose and focus of the project.
In response to the cancellation of the grant, Southern University issued a statement on March 9 saying, “Recently, the Secretary of Agriculture announced the cancellation of a $600,000 grant titled, ‘Project Farm to Feminine Hygiene: Enhancing the Textiles Lab for Research, Extension, a Scientific Instrumentation for Teaching at Southern University.’ The purpose of this grant was to research, process, and utilize three alternative natural fibers — regenerative cotton, regenerative wool, and industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) — in the development of sustainable, reusable, and disposable feminine hygiene products (FHP) including pads, liners, and underwear for women and girls that can be grown in Louisiana.
“This grant, which was reviewed by researchers from throughout the country, is not a study on or including research on menstrual cycles. The term ‘transgender men’ was only used once to state that this project, through the development of safer and healthier FHPs, would benefit all biological women,” the university said.
The single reference to “transgender men” occurred at the beginning of the summary of the project proposal, which said: “Menarche, the first occurrence of menstruation, occurs at approximately 12 years of age and ends with menopause at roughly 51 years of age. … A woman will have a monthly menstrual cycle for about 40 years of her life averaging to about 450 periods over the course of her lifetime. … It is also important to recognize that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities, intersex and non-binary persons may also menstruate.”
So the Southern University project was not a study of the “menstrual cycles in transgender men,” as the USDA secretary and others claimed, but an attempt to develop healthier products for “all biological women.”
We’ve written about other examples in which DOGE, in its purported efforts to reduce government spending, has misrepresented the scale of improper Social Security payments, made unsupported claims about corruption at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and made baseless claims about funds diverted to New York City for immigration-related services.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Meta to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Meta has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
American Principles Project. “About.” Americanprinciplesproject.org. Accessed 12 Mar 2025.
Associated Press. “Things to know about how Trump’s policies target transgender people.” NBC News. 3 Feb 2025.
Cohen, Ben. “Trump, Musk Exaggerate Scale of Improper Social Security Payments to the Dead.” 21 Feb 2025.
Gore, D’Angelo. “Musk Misleads on FEMA’s Migrant-Related Payments to New York City.” 13 Feb 2025.
Hale Spencer, Saranac. “No Basis for Corruption Accusations About USAID Administrator.” 21 Feb 2025.
Ruetenik, Dan. “DOGE mischaracterizes a study as transgender, and USDA cancels it.” CBS News. 10 Mar 2025.
Southern University Agricultural Research & Extension Center. “SU Ag Center’s Statement on the Project Farm to Feminine Hygiene Grant.” 9 Mar 2025.
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Research, Education & Economics Information System. “Project Farm to Feminine Hygiene: Enhancing the Textiles Lab for Research, Extension and Scientific Instrumentation for Teaching at Southern Univeristy.” Apr 2024.
White House. Presidential Actions. “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government.” 20 Jan 2025.
Yurcaba, Jo. “Government agencies scrub LGBTQ web pages and remove info about trans and intersex people.” NBC News. 3 Feb 2025.