Brooke Rollins
Statement: A $600,000 federal grant went to study “menstrual cycles in transgender men.”
It’s "that time of the month" — time for false claims about federal spending.Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has worked to cancel federal spending related to transgender issues, sometimesmischaracterizingprograms.
The latest example comes from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, a Texas attorney who founded and led the America First Policy Institute, a think tankpromotingPresident Donald Trump’s policies.
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"CANCELLED: $600,000 grant to study ‘menstrual cycles in transgender men,’" Rollins said March 7on X, formerly Twitter. Rollins, who was sworn in Feb. 13, thanked the American Principles Project, a conservative political advocacy group, that flagged the grant in itsdatabaseof grants promoting "woke gender ideology."The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, X accountreposted herstatement, andFox Newsandsocial media postsechoed it.
However, the grant-funded study wasn’t about the menstrual cycles of transgender men, who are people assigned female at birth but who identify as men. The grant funded the research and development offeminine hygiene productsthat use natural fibers such as cotton, wool and hemp.
The project summary included one sentence noting that along with women and girls, transgender men might also menstruate, but it did not say transgender men were the project’s focus.
Project dealt with materials in feminine hygiene products
The U.S. Department of Agricultureawardedthe three-year, $600,000 grant to study feminine hygiene product materials to Southern University and A&M College, a historically black university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in April 2024.
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Theprojectsought to research feminine hygiene products made with natural fibers including cotton, wool and hemp, developing patents for products using those natural fibers and evaluating them in comparison with synthetic products.
The focus on natural fibers might stem from concerns aboutheavy metalsandtoxic chemicalsthat researchers have found in common menstrual products. It is unclear whether the presence of these chemicals is linked to negative health effects.The Southern University project envisioned workshops "to educate young women and adolescent girls about menstruation, methods for managing menstruation, and how to create their own reusable feminine hygiene sanitary products using alternative natural fibers."Researchers wanted to source materials from Louisiana farmers and planned to use the grant to establish a fiber processing center at the university.
The grant project summary mentioned transgender men just once: "It is also important to recognize that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities, intersex and non-binary persons may also menstruate."Southern University’s Agricultural Research and Extension Center disputed Rollins’ characterization of the grant.
"This grant, which was reviewed by researchers from throughout the country, is not a study on or including research on menstrual cycles," the center’s March 9statement said. "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 center offered no additional comment to PolitiFact.
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When we reached out to the USDA for evidence, a spokesperson said the natural fibers research was a surface-level focus of the grant, while the education component prioritized transgender men.We found no evidence of that nor did the agency provide any. The education portion’s descriptions include no mentions of transgender men. Itsaysthat workshops will teach young women and girls "about the biological aspects of menstruation, its role in the reproductive cycle, and the physical and emotional changes that accompany it."
PolitiFact's ruling
Rollins said her department canceled a $600,000 federal grant "to study 'menstrual cycles in transgender men.'"
The grant funded research into natural fiber alternatives for menstrual products, and period health education workshops for "young women and girls."
The grant project summary included a single reference to transgender men, noting that they "may also menstruate." But there is no evidence they were a priority in the research.We rate this statement False.
Our sources
Email statement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, March 17, 2025
X post, March 7, 2025
American Principles Project, "Funding Insanity: Federal Spending on Gender Ideology under Biden-Harris," accessed March 17, 2025
Fox News, "Agriculture secretary cancels $600K grant for study on menstrual cycles in transgender men," March 8, 2025
Facebook post(archived), March 13, 2025
U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Project Farm to Feminine Hygiene: Enhancing the Textiles Lab for Research, Extension and Scientific Instrumentation for Teaching at Southern University," (archived) accessed March 17, 2025
USA Spending, "SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURAL & MECHANICAL COLLEGE," accessed March 17, 2025
UC Berkeley, "First study to measure toxic metals in tampons shows arsenic and lead, among other contaminants," July, 3, 2024
Harvard University, "Toxins in tampons suggest need for FDA testing, says expert," July 23, 2024
Southern University Agricultural Center, "SU Ag Center’s Statement on the Project Farm to Feminine Hygiene Grant," March 9, 2025
FactCheck.Org, "Study Focused on Feminine Hygiene Products, Not Transgender Men," March 14, 2025
CBS News, "DOGE mischaracterizes a study as transgender, and USDA cancels it," March 10, 2025
Axios, "Ex-Trump officials launch nonprofit promoting America First ideology," April 13, 2021
PolitiFact, "Claims about Politico, ‘DEI musical’ and USAID spending distort the facts," Feb. 7, 2025
PolitiFact, "The facts behind the 19 programs President Donald Trump described as ‘waste’," March 12, 2025
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Claim that USDA funded research on trans menstrual cycles is false
