South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's office will investigate outgoing Health Secretary Joan Adam's decision to contract with a transgender activist group following after her Monday retirement.
It comes after the state health department signed a deal to establish a "community health care worker program" with The Transformation Project, an LGBTQ+ group hosting the "Midwest Gender Identity Summit" next month.
But Adams stepped down following blowback from a letter her department sent lambasting the organization for failing "to submit required quarterly reports for two consecutive quarters" or finish the aforementioned program.
"Gov. Kristi Noem is reviewing all Department of Health contracts and immediately terminated a contract with The Transformation Project," Noem Communications Director Ian Fury told The Daily Signal. "The contract was signed without Gov. Noem's prior knowledge or approval."
Noem's official press release announcing Adams' retirement didn't officially tie it to the gender summit controversy, with the governor writing that she was "grateful for her advice and wish her the best [i]n everything that she does."
But in a statement delivered to various news outlets on Monday, Noem made it clear that "South Dakota does not support this organization's efforts, and state government should not be participating in them."
"We should not be dividing our youth with radical ideologies," the governor emphasized. "We should treat every single individual equally as a human being."
The Transformation Project's Jan. 13 conference, hosted alongside Sanford Health, is slated to feature sessions on "Transgender Cultural Competency" and "Learning to Address Implicit Bias Towards LGBTQ+ & 2S Patients," according to Fox News.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.