Federal judge again blocks Trump from moving trans women into men’s prisons

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has again blocked the Trump administration from transferring transgender women in federal custody into men’s prisons, extending emergency protections in a lawsuit that has become one of the country’s most significant legal fights over the treatment of transgender prisoners under President Donald Trump’s second administration.U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth on Tuesday renewed a preliminary injunction in Doe v. Blanche, preventing federal officials from enforcing portions of Executive Order 14168 against the plaintiffs from May 21 through June 8. The order requires the Bureau of Prisons to continue housing the plaintiffs in women’s facilities and maintain their gender dysphoria treatment as it existed before Trump returned to office on January 20, 2025.The ruling marks the latest turn in a case that began in January 2025 after three transgender women incarcerated in federal prisons sued the administration over Trump’s executive order mandating that the federal government recognize only sex assigned at birth. The order directed the attorney general to ensure that “males are not detained in women’s prisons” and sought to prohibit federal funding for gender-affirming care in custody.Related: Federal judge blocks Trump’s transfer of transgender women to men’s prisonsThe original complaint described plaintiffs who said they had already survived sexual violence, harassment, and trauma in men’s prisons before later being transferred into women’s facilities through individualized Bureau of Prisons assessments. One plaintiff alleged she had been raped in a men’s prison. Another said she faced repeated sexual assaults. A third warned that being transferred into a men’s facility would place her at severe risk of rape and violence.New filings submitted last week offered additional detailed accounts from several plaintiffs who said they endured rape, physical assaults, and ongoing harassment while incarcerated