Transgender Inmate Sues Over Trump's Order Curtailing LGBT Rights

Source: US News and World Report/Reuters

Jan. 27, 2025, at 11:58 a.m.


BOSTON (Reuters) - A transgender woman serving in a federal prison has filed a lawsuit arguing that President Donald Trump's executive order directing the U.S. government to recognize only two, unchangeable sexes and requiring inmates like her to be housed in men's prisons violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

In a lawsuit filed on Sunday in Boston federal court, the inmate, who is being represented by lawyers at rights groups including GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, took aim at an order Trump signed on his first day back in office on Jan. 20 targeting what he called "gender ideology extremism."

The lawsuit appeared to be the first to be filed nationally challenging the order, which directs the federal government to only recognize two, biologically distinct sexes, male and female; house transgender women in men's prisons; and cease funding any gender-affirming medical care for inmates.

Trump's executive order discriminated based on sex in violation of the plaintiff's due process rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment by requiring prison officials to treat incarcerated people differently depending on their sex, according to the lawsuit.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-01-27/transgender-inmate-sues-over-trumps-order-curtailing-lgbt-rights