NEW YORK – A federal judge has directed the Bureau of Prisons to relocate two transgender women from men’s facilities to women’s prisons, reversing the impact of an executive order by former President Donald Trump that limited transgender protections.
The preliminary injunction was issued by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, following the addition of the two women—referred to in court documents as Rachel and Ellen Doe—as plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit. This case challenges the implications of Trump’s executive order on transgender women in federal custody.
Lamberth’s order demands the Bureau of Prisons “immediately transfer” these women back to women’s prisons and ensure they continue receiving hormone therapy for gender dysphoria. Court documents revealed that the women faced significant fear of sexual assault and other forms of violence after being relocated to male prisons, facing inappropriate propositions and strip searches by male officers without female staff present.
“The fact that they have already been transferred and, allegedly, have been abused at their new facilities can only strengthen their claims of irreparable harm,” Lamberth stated.
The Bureau of Prisons offered no comment on the situation. Lamberth’s ruling adds to a series of judicial decisions that have countered the Bureau’s efforts to adhere to Trump’s order, which called for housing transgender women in male prisons and halting medical treatments affirming their gender identity.
Previously, Judge Lamberth—appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan—prevented the transfer of a dozen other transgender women to men’s prisons. Last month, he maintained that these inmates’ “housing status and medical care” remain as they were before President Trump signed the executive order. Additionally, a federal judge in Boston stopped the relocation of another transgender woman to a men’s prison in January.
At the time those rulings were made, Rachel and Ellen Doe were not party to any legal challenges against Trump’s order and thus were not included in the initial court decisions.
According to court filings, as of February 20, a Trump administration official reported that there were 22 transgender women in federal women’s facilities, a small fraction of nearly 2,200 transgender inmates the Bureau of Prisons has in custody.
With Judge Lamberth’s recent order, at least 15 individuals are currently protected under directives that block or reverse the transfers prompted by the executive order.
The judge is also considering a separate lawsuit filed last week by three other inmates—one transgender woman in a men’s prison and two transgender men in women’s prisons—who are challenging the order’s prohibition of gender-affirming medical care, including hormone therapy.