US court blocks Trump’s order on trans inmates

The US president has ordered to ensure that “males are not detained in women’s prisons”

A US judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from transferring transgender inmates to men’s prisons and cutting off their access to medical treatment related to so-called gender transitions.

This decision challenges an executive order signed by Trump on January 20, his first day back in office, which directed the Bureau of Prisons to house inmates in accordance with their biological sex and eliminate funding for certain medical treatments. The order explicitly mandates that the federal bureau ensure that “males are not detained in women’s prisons.”

In a broad ruling that temporarily halts that executive order, US District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, DC on Tuesday night determined that three transgender inmates who had earlier filed a lawsuit would likely succeed in proving the policy was unconstitutional.

In the lawsuit, incarcerated transgender women accuse the president of endangering their lives by eliminating their access to medical care through an executive order that “categorically bans transgender healthcare regardless of medical necessity.”

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The plaintiffs had reportedly been housed in women’s units for months or even years until January, when they were removed from the general population in women’s prisons and placed in segregated units with other transgender women while awaiting transfer to men’s facilities.

An attorney told the judge that they were “terrified” at the prospect of these transfers. Lamberth agreed that the trans inmates faced a “significantly elevated risk of physical and sexual violence” and “numerous and severe symptoms” without appropriate medical care.

The judge noted there are only about 16 transgender women housed in US female penitentiaries, including the three plaintiffs who sued in Washington. The judge concluded that “the public interest in seeing the plaintiffs relocated immediately to male facilities is slight at best.”

The decision marked the second time when a federal judge ruled in favor of LGBTQ+ legal rights groups that sued to stop the US Bureau of Prisons from enforcing the order.

Since taking office, Trump has issued multiple gender-related orders asserting that the US government policy is that “there are only two genders – male and female.”

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Trump has rolled back protections for transgender rights as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs which the federal government had established during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

He has also ended federal support for medical procedures related to sex change procedures for people under age 19, stating that these “chemical and surgical mutilations” of children should be stopped.

Last month, he inked an order intended to eliminate “radical gender ideology” from the US armed forces. The order states that military service should be reserved for those who are mentally and physically fit for duty.

On Thursday, Trump signed another executive order barring trans women from competing in female sports. His administration has also announced plans to block transgender athletes from competing in international events hosted by the US, including the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and the World Cup.

Several of Trump’s policies have already faced legal challenges, with federal judges blocking some of his directives. His administration’s approach has drawn widespread criticism from civil rights organizations and LGBT advocacy groups.