Trump Orders Transfer Of Transgender Women Inmates To Men’s Prison Cell

President Donald Trump has ordered that transgender women in federal prisons be transferred to men’s facilities and that medical procedures linked to gender transition be discontinued.

The decision was part of a broad executive order issued by President Trump on his first day in office that aims to confine government identification of an individual’s gender to their sex at birth.

The directive on prisoners also applies to immigration detainees and is one of the more specific provisions of the regulation.

Trump had imposed some limits on transgender prisoners’ housing and health treatment during his previous administration, but the new directive went much further.

The Women’s Liberation Front, which identifies women according to their sex at birth and campaigns for single-sex prisons, hailed the decision as “a major victory.”

The group is fighting a California legislation that permits inmates to request housing that matches their gender identity. It claims that the law violates the constitutional rights of female convicts who are not transgender, namely the Eighth Amendment right to be free from harsh and unusual punishment.

Trump’s order echoed those arguments, saying that “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety and well-being.”

Meanwhile, activists for transgender persons and inmates opposed the ruling, claiming it would put them in danger.

“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.”

Legal experts suggested it would also be subject to judicial challenges.

Federal courts have ruled that prison administrations must safeguard vulnerable prisoners. Some argue that they must provide medical care, such as hormone therapies, to prisoners diagnosed with gender dysphoria, which is the distress caused by a mismatch between one’s body and gender identity.

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Nnamdi Okoli