Federal Judge Rejects Trump-Era Ban on Sex Change Procedures in Prisons
Federal judge blocks Trump's order to end transgender inmate care, ruling BOP must follow medical staff recommendations.
A federal judge issued a significant order on Tuesday, requiring the Trump administration to maintain medical care and accommodations for transgender inmates in federal prisons. The decision comes in response to an executive order by President Donald Trump that had directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to discontinue all medical procedures related to sex changes for incarcerated individuals.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, in his 36-page opinion, stated that neither the BOP nor the executive order provided any substantive rationale for treating gender dysphoria differently than other mental health conditions managed within federal prisons. Lamberth emphasized that, "Under the APA, the BOP may not arbitrarily deprive inmates of medications or other lifestyle accommodations that its own medical staff have deemed to be medically appropriate without considering the implications of that decision."
The ruling grants an injunction to three transgender inmates diagnosed with gender dysphoria who challenged the Trump administration's policy change. Lamberth found that their claims are likely to succeed under the Administrative Procedure Act, signaling a major legal setback for the administration’s efforts to restrict transgender health care in prison settings.
Under the now-blocked executive order, the BOP would have been required to halt "any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex." This reversal interrupted policies introduced before Trump's order, which had started to provide gender-affirming surgeries to federal inmates—the first of which took place in December 2022. Donna Langan, formerly Peter Kevin Langan and a convicted leader of the Aryan Republican Army, became the first federal prisoner to receive such a procedure funded by the government.
Tuesday’s decision underscores the judiciary’s ongoing role in blocking parts of the Trump administration’s agenda, particularly on issues related to LGBTQ rights and access to health care. The court’s stance affirms that federal agencies must offer a clear and medically justified explanation when enacting or retracting essential medical services for inmates, especially when such actions impact vulnerable populations.
Legal experts note that the case could have broad implications for the scope of executive power and the rights of transgender individuals within the federal prison system. As litigation continues, the BOP has declined to comment on matters still before the courts. The outcome of this and similar cases will likely shape the future of health care access and civil rights protections for transgender people in custody.
