President Donald Trump has issued a controversial executive order mandating that transgender women be housed in men's federal prisons and blocking all gender-related medical treatments for transgender inmates.
Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government executive order targets both federal prisons and immigration detention facilities.
It requires transgender women to be placed in male prison units and stops all medical procedures related to gender transition.
According to federal data, approximately 1,500 transgender women are currently in federal prisons, representing 15% of female inmates.
This is significantly higher than the overall transgender population, which is less than one percent of U.S. adults.
Supporters of the order, including the Women's Liberation Front, celebrated the move as a victory for women's safety. Matt Sharp from the Alliance Defending Freedom praised the order as protecting "privacy in women's prisons" and preventing potential harassment.
However, legal experts and transgender advocacy groups strongly criticized the directive.
Shannon Minter from the National Center for Lesbian Rights warned that the policy would likely lead to increased violence.
"There will be rapes and physical assaults because of this policy," said Minter.
Constitutional lawyers argue the order may face significant legal challenges.
Previous federal court rulings have said that prisons must protect vulnerable inmates and provide necessary medical care, including gender transition treatments.
Federal data reveals that transgender prisoners are 10 times more likely to experience sexual victimization compared to other inmates.
The new order calls for amendments to existing prisoner protection regulations under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
The order completely stops federal funding for any gender transition medical procedures.
This order directly contradicts recommendations from the American Medical Association, which considers some “gender-affirming care” treatments as medically necessary.
Richard Saenz, a lawyer with Lambda Legal, said that "constitutional protections do not stop if a person is in prison or immigration detention facilities."
The directive appears to target only transgender women, leaving transgender men unaffected.
With approximately 750 transgender men among 144,000 male prisoners in federal prisons, the order only affects transgender women.
