A Massachusetts judge has temporarily blocked federal prison officials from transferring an incarcerated transgender woman to a men’s facility and denying her gender-affirming care under an executive order from Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole issued the restraining order Sunday while the case was sealed. At a Boston hearing Thursday, O’Toole confirmed that the inmate, identified as Maria Moe, is back in the general population and receiving hormone therapy after being moved to a “special housing unit.”
An appointee of former President Clinton, O’Toole ordered the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to maintain this status until a longer injunction is decided.
Moe sued the Trump administration over an executive order recognizing only two sexes and barring federal dollars from funding “gender ideology.” Signed on Trump’s first day back in office, the order prohibits women’s prisons from housing transgender female inmates and directs the attorney general to ensure compliance, including banning federal funds for inmates’ gender-affirming care.
Moe’s attorneys argued her transfer would expose her to “an extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault.”
Jennifer Levi, an attorney with GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, called the ruling “a huge relief” for Moe, stating, “Trump’s Gender Ideology Executive Order is contrary to the health and safety of incarcerated people, undermines prison security for all, and protects no one.”
Levi added, “The Courts remain an important backstop. This is a great first step in the case.”
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