A US Judge Stops the Trump Administration’s Transgender Inmate Transfer

Citing safety and legal concerns, a federal judge has prevented the Trump administration from moving a transgender prisoner to a male facility.

In accordance with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, a US judge has temporarily barred federal prison officials from denying a transgender woman access to gender-affirming care and moving her to a men’s institution, according to her attorneys on Thursday.

While the inmate’s case was still sealed, US District Judge George O’Toole in Boston issued a temporary restraining order on Sunday. The lawsuit seems to be the first judicial challenge to Trump’s executive order targeting what he refers to as “gender ideology extremism,” which was signed on January 20—his first day back in office.

Trump’s decree directs the federal government to stop supporting gender-affirming medical care for prisoners, imprison transgender women in men’s prisons, and acknowledge only two biologically separate sexes.

Originally sealed, the lawsuit—filed under the alias Maria Moe—was made public on Thursday at a hearing to see whether more legal protections should be provided.

Attorneys from two LGBTQ rights organizations, including GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), filed the lawsuit. O’Toole’s interim restraining order will continue to be in force as he considers a longer-term injunction, according to GLAD’s confirmation after the unsealing.

The judge’s order mandates that prison officials maintain the woman in a women’s facility’s general population and continue to provide her with medical care, according to GLAD. Moe’s GLAD lawyer, Jennifer Levi, expressed happiness that her client “is staying put for now.”

O’Toole is currently considering whether to grant a preliminary injunction that would increase the safeguards afforded by the law. Three additional transgender inmates, meanwhile, challenged Trump’s ban in a similar complaint filed in Washington, DC, on Thursday.

Boston’s US Attorney’s Office opted not to comment.

According to Moe’s attorneys, the Federal Bureau of Prisons told her that she would be moved to a men’s institution, placing her at “extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault,” just one day after Trump signed the order.

Additionally, they said that Moe’s official classification was changed from “female” to “male” by the Bureau of Prisons, and they were ready to stop her from taking hormones that she had been taking since she was a teenager to treat gender dysphoria.

Moe’s legal team contends that Trump’s executive order violates her Fifth Amendment due process rights by discriminating against her based on her sex.