Trans Federal Prisoner in Massachusetts Wins Temporary Halt to Trump Order Removing Her From Women’s Lockup
In an executive order issued just after his inauguration on January 20, 2025, Pres. Donald J. Trump (R) ordered the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), parent agency of the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), to remove trans women prisoners from women’s lockups and place them in prisons where they will be held with men. The order also halted any gender-affirming care that the prisoners might be receiving.
Trump framed his directive as a move to protect prisoners born female, and it apparently did not include trans men in BOP custody. According to the order, “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety and well-being.” Within days, it was challenged in a suit filed in federal court for the District of Massachusetts on January 26, 2025, by a trans BOP prisoner identified as “Maria Moe.” The Court then granted a temporary restraining order that same day while it considered the prisoner’s request for permanent relief.
The directive also applies to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which held 39,703 people on January 23, 2025; it was unclear how many of those detainees were trans.
As of January 25, 2025, the BOP no longer maintained a tally of trans prisoners among the 153,739 people in its custody. But a week earlier, it reported holding 1,529 trans women and 744 trans men, representing just under 1.5% of its total prisoner population.
To comply with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), 42 U.S.C. ch. 147 § 15601 et seq., the BOP used transgender status in calculating a prisoner’s risk for housing assignments. Trump’s order directed the agency to amend those regulations “as necessary.”
“There will be rapes and physical assaults because of this policy,” predicted National Center for Lesbian Rights Legal Director Shannon Minter, whose group has represented trans women prisoners. “It’s also terrible for prison officials, who right now have the authority to use discretion about what makes the most sense for the safety and security of the facility.”
Trump’s order also bars federal spending “for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex.” But in her suit, Moe noted that gender-affirming care and treatment for gender dysphoria are considered “medically necessary” by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the Endocrine Society. The case remains pending, and PLN will share updates on developments as they become available.
Estimates indicate that only about 1% of the U.S. population is trans—about the same share as those earning the highest annual incomes, currently $788,000 or more. Taking a swipe at Trump and his allies, trans actress Laverne Cox said that “[t]he Republican party is worried about the wrong one percent.”
Moe is represented by attorneys Bennett H. Klein and Jennifer L. Levi of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in Boston. See: Moe v. Trump, USDC (D. Mass.), Case No. 1:25-cv-10195.
Additional sources: Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Reuters News
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login