Chicago February 23, 2025
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is planning to relocate transgender inmates from prisons that match their gender identity to facilities corresponding to their sex at birth. This move, expected to happen as early as next week, has sparked serious concerns among the trans and legal communities.
According to federal inmates and a source familiar with the policy, transgender women currently housed in women’s facilities will be moved to men’s facilities, and vice versa. The move will impact trans inmates regardless of whether they’ve received gender transition surgery.
The decision is a result of President Trump’s executive order, which recognizes only two sexes, male and female. Critics argue that this order “provides no room for individualized determinations or discretion” and “appears to be motivated by nothing more than hate and cruelty towards this population.”
The BOP has not publicly announced the planned moves or made information about its new policy available. The plaintiffs, currently housed in women’s facilities, are slated to be transferred.