Trump Orders Transfer of Transgender Inmates to Men’s Prisons
U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an order directing federal prisons to transfer transgender women to men’s facilities and halt medical treatments related to gender transition.
This move is part of a broader executive order that Trump signed on his first day in office, which aimed to limit the government’s recognition of an individual’s gender to their sex at birth. The directive also applies to immigration detainees and represents one of the more definitive aspects of the executive order.
During his previous term, Trump had set some restrictions on housing and healthcare for transgender prisoners, but this new order is far-reaching in its impact.
The Women’s Liberation Front, an organization that defines women based on their sex at birth and advocates for single-sex prisons, has praised the directive as “a major victory.” The group is actively challenging a California law that allows prisoners to request housing consistent with their gender identity, arguing that it infringes upon the constitutional rights of non-transgender female inmates, including their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
Trump’s new directive aligns with these views, claiming that “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being.”
However, the order has drawn heavy criticism from advocates for transgender rights, who argue it will put transgender prisoners in jeopardy. Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which has represented transgender inmates, warned, “There will be rapes and physical assaults because of this policy.” Minter also criticized the order for removing discretion from prison officials, who previously had the authority to determine the safest and most secure housing for inmates.
Legal experts have suggested that the order could face significant challenges in court. Federal courts have ruled that prison systems are required to protect vulnerable prisoners, and in some cases, provide medical treatments such as hormone therapy for inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria—distress resulting from a mismatch between one’s body and gender identity.
In 2022, a federal district judge in Illinois ordered the Bureau of Prisons to provide gender-transition surgery to a transgender inmate, concluding that withholding the procedure was likely a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s guarantee of necessary medical care.
Federal data reveals that transgender prisoners are ten times more likely to report being sexually victimized than their non-transgender counterparts. Advocates argue that the new policy will only exacerbate these risks.
