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Federal Prisons Must House Transgender Women in Men’s Facilities

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Federal inmates who are transgender women must be housed in men’s facilities, President Trump ordered. Any medical treatments related to gender transition must also stop, The New York Times reports. Trump’s executive order, titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” appears to require the rehousing only of transgender women, not transgender men. In the order, Trump’s language echoed arguments of critics who say that female inmates are endangered when housed with transgender women. The number of people affected is relatively small. There are about 1,500 federal prisoners who are transgender women, according to the Bureau of Prisons. But they represent an outsize portion of federal inmates, especially among female prisoners: though transgender adults make up less than 1% of adults in the U.S., 15% of women in prison are transgender. There are 750 transgender men out of about 144,000 male prisoners. t is unclear why the number is higher in federal prisons, but experts point to studies that show transgender people are more likely to attract attention from law enforcement.


Federal data shows that transgender prisoners are 10 times as likely to report being sexually victimized as other prisoners. “There will be rapes and physical assaults because of this policy,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which has represented transgender 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.” Court challenges are likely, legal experts said. Federal courts have said that prison systems are required to protect vulnerable prisoners. Some have also held that they are required to offer medical care such as hormone therapies to prisoners diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the distress associated with a mismatch between one’s body and gender identity.  “Constitutional protections do not stop if a person is in prison or in jail, or in immigration detention facilities,” said Richard Saenz, a lawyer at Lambda Legal, an L.G.B.T.Q. legal advocacy organization.

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