Federal judge says prisons must provide gender-affirming care for inmates

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled the U.S.

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled the U.S. Bureau of Prisons must keep providing transgender inmates gender-affirming care, despite an executive order President Donald Trump signed on his first day back in office to halt funding for such care.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., allowed a group of more than 2,000 transgender inmates in federal prisons to pursue a lawsuit challenging the order as a class action. He ordered the Bureau of Prisons to provide them with hormone therapy and accommodations such as clothing and hair-removal devices while the lawsuit plays out.

The ruling does not require the bureau to provide surgical care related to gender transitions.

White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said the Trump administration expects to ultimately prevail in the legal dispute.

“The District Court’s decision allowing transgender women, aka MEN, in women’s prisons fundamentally makes women less safe and ignores the biological truth that there are only two genders,” Fields said in an email.