A transgender woman in federal prison has sued President Donald Trump over an executive order he issued on his first day back in office seeking to define “sex” in a way the lawsuit says is “intentionally designed to discriminate against transgender people” and “deny them equal treatment.”
The complaint, filed under the pseudonym Maria Moe, claims that Executive Order 14166 has caused Moe “significant distress” and “raises serious concerns for her safety and well-being going forward.” The lawsuit seeks an injunction to block the enforcement of Trump’s executive order and require the Trump administration to restore Moe’s previous housing and medical care as it was before January 20. It also requests “nominal” damages.
On January 21, the day after Trump signed the order, prison officials removed Moe from the general population at the low-security federal women’s prison where she was housed, according to the suit. They placed her in solitary confinement and informed her she would soon be transferred to a men’s facility. Being transferred to a men’s facility would place her “at an extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence and sexual assault,” the lawsuit says.
“[Moe] may be subject to strip searches by male correctional officers. She may be forced to shower in full view of men who are incarcerated. And she will predictably experience worsening gender dysphoria, which can lead to serious harm, including dramatically increased rates of suicidality and depression,” the complaint says.
Executive Order 14166 directs federal agencies to recognize only two unchangeable sexes assigned at conception, removing any reference to gender. The Trump administration is already using this policy to restrict trans people from updating gender markers on federal documents like passports.
One key effect of the order is the undermining of the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), which was originally enacted during the Bush administration to address the widespread issue of sexual abuse in U.S. prisons. The PREA was later expanded under the Obama and Biden administrations to provide specific safeguards for transgender people, like banning invasive searches of genitals and evaluating gender-related issues when determining housing. Trump’s executive order rolls back these protections.
Advocates for trans rights have said that Trump’s rollback of protections for trans people will put them at even further risk of violence within prisons.
“The experiences retold in this complaint and those of other incarcerated trans women who have been transferred or otherwise forced into men’s prisons are painful and appalling.” Adam Herpolsheimer, a law and policy analyst at the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, told Truthout. “The executive order itself is punitive and ideological, with no plausible justification as to keeping anyone safe.”
The order also requires the Federal Bureau of Prisons to deny gender-affirming care to transgender people in federal custody. “Executive Order 14166 singles out transgender people to deny them essential healthcare, including medications that BOP may continue to provide to nontransgender people. The Order categorically bans transgender healthcare regardless of medical necessity,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit says that Moe will be deprived of “medically necessary treatment” that she was receiving before the order was signed, with no reason to expect it would be stopped. “This blanket ban will deprive Maria Moe of essential medication she has taken continuously since she was a teenager, putting her at high risk of serious harm,” the complaint says.
Research has shown that transgender people in correctional facilities already face a heightened risk of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide attempts while in detention. Trans people also face higher risks of being incarcerated: according to Lambda Legal, nearly one in six transgender people, and half of all Black transgender people, has been incarcerated. Research has also shown that limited access to gender-affirming treatments and housing based on sex assigned at birth can worsen depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and increase the risk of suicide attempts among incarcerated transgender people during detention.
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project explains that “over-policing and profiling of low-income people and of trans and gender-nonconforming people intersect,” leading to “a far higher risk than average of imprisonment, police harassment, and violence for low-income trans people.” Once in federal custody, the approximately 2,000 currently incarcerated transgender people face alarmingly high levels of violence, which Trump’s anti trans order will likely exacerbate.
According to the Marshall Project, 37 percent of incarcerated transgender people report being sexually assaulted in prison, compared to 3 percent of the general prison population. Many transgender people also describe being coerced into sex work.
However, the percentage of trans people who have experienced sexual assault is likely much higher, as prison rape is significantly underreported because many victims fear retaliation from their attackers. For example, 2021 California study revealed that 69 percent of incarcerated trans women reported being forced to perform sexual acts against their will and 88 percent reported being coerced into “marriage-like relationships.”
“This is what happens to trans women placed in men’s prisons.They are subjected to daily horrific rapes and used as human chattel to pacify aggressive and violent inmates. It’s called v coding,” Alejandra Caraballo, a civil rights attorney and clinical instructor at the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic, said on Bluesky on Sunday.
Rights groups have condemned the executive order, saying that it will exacerbate already dangerous conditions for incarcerated trans people.
“The order specifically calls on the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ignore the guidelines of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and enforce a blanket policy forcing transgender women into men’s prisons and detention centers against their will,” the ACLU said in a commentary about the order. “This puts them at a severely heightened risk of sexual assault and abuse by other incarcerated persons and prison staff.”
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