USDA grant funded research into all-natural menstrual products, not trans menstrual cycles

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, sometimes mischaracterizing programs.

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 tank promoting President Donald Trump’s policies.

"CANCELLED: $600,000 grant to study ‘menstrual cycles in transgender men,’" Rollins said March 7 on X. Rollins, who was sworn in Feb. 13, thanked the American Principles Project, a conservative political advocacy group, that flagged the grant in its database of grants promoting "woke gender ideology."

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, X account reposted her statement, and Fox News and social media posts echoed 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 of feminine hygiene products that use natural fibers such as cotton, wool and hemp. 

The project summary included one sentence noting that along with women and girls, transgender men may also menstruate, but it did not say transgender men were the project’s focus. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the 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. 

The project sought 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. 

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The focus on natural fibers may stem from concerns about heavy metals and toxic chemicals researchers have found in common menstrual products. It is unclear whether the presence of these chemicals are 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 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 this 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 9 statement 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.

When we reached out to 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. It says that 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." 

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 one reference to transgender men, noting that they "may also menstruate." But there is no evidence they were a priority in this research.

We rate this statement False.