This Nonprofit Got $22 Million in Government Grants to Teach Kids About Sex Toys

For nearly a decade, the federal government has funded a nonprofit group that works to educate minors about sex toys, while discouraging them from telling their parents about it. The Center for Innovative Public Health Research has received more than $22 million in federal money since 2016. According to its website, the group creates “health education programs” that “promote positive human development.” But the content of those programs—and the comments of the organization’s CEO, Michele Ybarra—suggest that CIPHR’s “human development” goals are anything but positive.

Take Girl2Girl. Launched in 2017 and run by CIPHR, it’s a federally funded “sex ed program just for teen girls who are into girls.” Its website allows users—mostly between ages 14 and 16, according to one study—to sign up for “daily text messages . . . about things like sex with girls and boys.”