Inmate Sues Trump Administration Over Transgender Medical Treatment Order

A transgender inmate receiving taxpayer-funded medical treatments has launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) challenging President Donald Trump's executive order that terminates medical transgender treatments for federal prisoners.

Trump's executive order, titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," prohibits federal funds from being "expended for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex." The order asserts that there are only "two sexes."

The inmate, referred to as "Maria Moe" in court documents and represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Lowenstein Sandler LLP, began hormone therapy as a teenager and has not been housed in a men's facility since her conviction.

After Trump's executive order was signed, Moe was transferred to a men's prison facility, and BOP records changed her sex designation from "female" to "male," according to the complaint.

The lawsuit, initially reported by Reuters, asserts that Trump's executive order endangers transgender women in federal prisons by facilitating their "unlawful transfer to men's facilities and denial of medically necessary healthcare."

According to the lawsuit, "If Maria Moe is transferred to a men's facility, she will not be safe. She will be at an extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault. She may be subject to strip searches by male correctional officers." The complaint raises concerns that she could be forced to shower in front of incarcerated men, potentially exacerbating her gender dysphoria.

Moe claims that Trump and the BOP are violating the Fifth and Eighth Amendments and states that she faces "imminent risk of losing access to the medical care she needs to treat her gender dysphoria."

Before Trump's reversal of BOP gender dysphoria policies, the BOP had begun funding transgender surgical procedures for inmates in December 2022. Donna Langan, formerly known as Peter Kevin Langan, was the first federal prisoner to undergo gender transition funded by taxpayers. Langan was serving time for involvement in a series of armed bank robberies during the 1990s.

Langan's transition resulted from years of advocacy and legal actions, including a significant 2021 settlement in which the BOP agreed to provide gender transition surgery to Cristina Nichole Iglesias, who was convicted for threats against British officials.

Recently, multiple lawsuits have been filed regarding the denial of gender transition treatments for incarcerated individuals. In September 2024, Reiyn Keohane, a transgender woman imprisoned in Florida, sued the state's Department of Corrections, alleging violations of the Eighth Amendment for ceasing hormone therapy and denying access to female clothing and grooming products.

Fox News Digital has contacted Moe's attorneys, the White House, and BOP for comments.