The order states that it is the policy of the United States to recognize that there are two sexes only: male and female.
A judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order, which mandated that transgender inmates who identify as women be housed in male prisons and that the government cease funding their access to hormone therapy.
Lamberth found the three would likely succeed in arguing the order violates the Eighth Amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The order states that the attorney general must ensure the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) revises its medical care policies so that federal funds aren’t spent on “any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex.” It also states that it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes only: male and female.
“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” the order states.
The plaintiffs also claim that being in a male prison alone will exacerbate the symptoms of their gender dysphoria.
The inmates also presented evidence from a physician explaining that having no access to medications to treat gender dysphoria could cause “numerous and severe symptoms,” Lamberth wrote.
“It is, of course, possible that further briefing of the constitutional issues at the center of this dispute, or factual discovery, will eventually yield a different outcome,” Lamberth concluded. “But the plaintiffs, through their largely undisputed factual allegations and proffered affidavits, have met their burden to show a likelihood of success on the merits.”
Lamberth declined to reach a verdict regarding the inmates’ other arguments that the order violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution’s equal protection guarantee.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has defended the order by arguing that it has broad authority to make decisions regarding the placement of inmates and an interest in protecting inmates’ privacy and security.
Lamberth dismissed that claim, however, writing in his order that public interest in seeing the plaintiffs relocated immediately to male facilities is “slight at best.”
In contrast, Tuesday’s ruling in Washington applies to all 16 transgender women currently housed in federal women’s prisons.
About 2,230 transgender inmates are housed in federal custodial facilities and halfway houses across the United States, according to the DOJ. About two-thirds of them, 1,506, are biological males who identify as females; the majority of whom are housed in men’s prisons.
The Epoch Times has contacted the DOJ and the Bureau of Prisons for comment.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
