<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/07/transgender-women-prison-trump>
"Transgender women incarcerated in the US prison system have been transferred
to men’s facilities under Donald Trump’s executive order, despite multiple
court rulings blocking the president’s policy, according to civil rights
lawyers and accounts from behind bars.
Trump’s day-one “gender ideology” order, one of several sweeping attacks on
trans rights, said the attorney general “shall ensure that males are not
detained in women’s prisons or housed in women’s detention centers” and that no
federal funds go to gender-affirming treatment or procedures for people in
custody.
The executive order was quickly challenged in court. In three lawsuits filed on
behalf of trans women housed in women’s prisons, federal judges have ruled that
the US Bureau of Prisons (BOP) cannot withhold their medical treatment and was
barred from moving them to men’s facilities. One judge said the plaintiffs had
“straightforwardly demonstrated that irreparable harm will follow”.
Lawyers fighting Trump’s directive say the court rulings prevented the
transfers of 17 trans women who are plaintiffs in the cases, but others not
included in the litigation are now facing placements in men’s facilities.
“I’m just continuing to be punished for existing,” said Whitney, a 31-year-old
trans woman who was transferred from a women’s facility to a men’s prison this
week. The BOP changed her records from “female” to “male”, records show. In
messages before her transfer, she said she felt like a “pawn in others’
political games”. The
Guardian is not using her full name due to concerns
about retaliation.
Kara Janssen, an attorney representing trans women in litigation, said she
learned of another trans woman not included in the lawsuits who was recently
transferred to a facility that houses men, and also had the gender marker in
her records changed. Janssen also learned of a trans woman newly entering the
BOP system who had gender-affirming surgeries before her incarceration, but was
placed in a men’s facility.
Prisons are required under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (Prea), a
longstanding federal law, to screen incarcerated people for sexual assault risk
and consider LGBTQ+ status when making housing decisions. Legal experts say
Trump’s blanket policy of housing trans women in men’s facilities clearly
violates Prea.
“This is incredibly unnecessary and cruel,” said Janssen. “Our clients are
desperate and scared.”
The BOP did not respond to requests for comment."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
