Three transgender individuals incarcerated in federal prisons have initiated a class action lawsuit against the Trump Administration and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The lawsuit challenges an executive order and new BOP policies that restrict access to gender-affirming care. Filed in Washington, D.C., this legal action represents approximately 2,000 transgender inmates across the United States.
The controversy began with a January 20 executive order from President Trump, which halted gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender individuals in federal prisons and immigration detention centers. Consequently, the BOP instructed facilities to stop hormone replacement therapies previously prescribed by its medical providers. Additionally, transgender women were to be relocated from women's facilities to men's facilities, an issue currently contested in separate lawsuits. The policy also bans gender-affirming clothing and commissary items while mandating the use of incorrect pronouns.
The plaintiffs in today's lawsuit include two transgender men and one transgender woman incarcerated in New Jersey, Minnesota, and Florida. Each was diagnosed with gender dysphoria by BOP medical staff and prescribed hormone therapy but now face suspension of their treatments. The lawsuit argues that this policy violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on "cruel and unusual punishments," asserting that denial of medically necessary healthcare falls under this category.
Further claims cite violations of the Fifth Amendment's equal protection requirement, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Rehabilitation Act. Represented by the ACLU, ACLU of DC, and Transgender Law Center, the case seeks justice for all affected transgender prisoners.
"Since his first day in office, President Trump has singled out transgender people for discrimination," stated Li Nowlin-Sohl from ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. Corene Kendrick from ACLU National Prison Project emphasized that denying gender-affirming care is unconstitutional akin to withholding chemotherapy or insulin for other patients.
Shawn Meerkamper of Transgender Law Center criticized the executive order as endangering lives and attacking transgender rights. Michael Perloff from ACLU-D.C. condemned it as part of a broader campaign against trans individuals' public presence.
Reports indicate that BOP officials have been directed to disregard previous enforcement of protective measures like the 2002 Prison Rape Elimination Act. This includes re-housing transgender women into men's prisons despite known risks of sexual violence and suicide.
In December 2024, oral arguments were heard by the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Skrmetti concerning Tennessee’s ban on hormonal therapies for transgender youth under equal protection grounds—a decision is anticipated by June 2025.
The complaint filed today in Kingdom v. Trump can be accessed publicly.
