Hundreds of transgender federal prisoners are facing heightened fear and uncertainty following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump mandating that inmates be transferred to facilities based on biological sex rather than gender identity.
The order, signed on Trump’s first day in office, also restricts access to “intimate spaces” such as bathrooms and dormitories based on biological sex and halts federal funding for transition-related healthcare. The policy has drawn widespread criticism from legal advocates who warn of the dangers this poses to transgender individuals in the prison system.
“It’s going to be incredibly dangerous,” said attorney Moira Meltzer-Cohen, who represents Donna Langan, a transgender woman serving a life sentence for bank robbery. Speaking to DailyMailUK, Meltzer-Cohen expressed grave concerns about the safety of transgender prisoners, fearing what she described as a potential “bloodbath” if trans women are forced into male prisons.
Sandra Gant, a federal public defender, reported that her office had been contacted after a transgender client was segregated for transfer to a men’s prison. “She is terrified,” Gant said, highlighting the profound fear many inmates feel under the new policy. Gant also emphasised the urgent need for legal strategies to challenge the executive order.
However, some support the directive. Rhonda Fleming, a female inmate in Texas, welcomed the decision. Fleming previously lost a legal battle to exclude transgender women from women’s prisons, arguing that male inmates could fake gender identities to secure transfers to women’s facilities. “I feel safer with this policy in place,” she asserted.
The Bureau of Prisons, which manages about 1,500 transgender women and 750 transgender men in federal custody, has yet to decide on the placement of inmates who have undergone gender-affirming surgeries, citing additional security concerns.
This executive order is part of a broader rollback of protections for transgender individuals under Trump’s administration. Legal groups, including the ACLU, are expected to mount challenges to the policy, arguing it violates the rights and safety of transgender inmates.