On February 4, 2025, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth issued a temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order mandating that transgender women be housed in men’s federal prisons and denying them access to gender-affirming medical care. This decision arose from a lawsuit filed by three transgender inmates who argued that the policy violated their constitutional rights and exposed them to significant harm.
President Trump signed the executive order on January 20, 2025, directing the federal government to recognize only two biologically distinct sexes and to house inmates accordingly. The order also ceased funding for gender-affirming medical treatments for inmates. Prior to this, the Bureau of Prisons followed guidelines from 2022 that considered inmates’ current gender expression when determining housing assignments.
The plaintiffs contended that transferring them to men’s facilities would endanger their safety and well-being, citing a higher risk of physical and sexual violence. They also argued that discontinuing their hormone therapy would cause severe psychological distress. Judge Lamberth found that the government did not dispute these risks and concluded that the public interest in relocating the plaintiffs was minimal. He emphasized that the balance of equities and public interest favored the plaintiffs.
This ruling applies to all 16 transgender women currently housed in federal women’s prisons and goes further than a previous decision by a federal judge in Boston, which blocked the transfer of an individual transgender woman to a men’s facility. The Justice Department, representing the Trump administration, declined to comment on the ruling.
