A judge has ruled the federal Bureau of Prisons must provide hormone therapy to transgender inmates after Donald Trump signed an executive order halting all treatments.
Trump issued the order within hours of his inauguration in January forcing the federal government to only recognize two genders - male and female - as well as, house transgender women in men's prisons and not fund gender-affirming care.
Several transgender prisoners sued the administration to have their treatments resumed.
US District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled on Tuesday that federal law prohibits prison officials from arbitrarily depriving inmates of medications and other lifestyle accommodations that the bureau's medical staff has deemed appropriate.
The judge said the transgender inmates who sued to block Trump's executive order are trying to lessen the personal anguish caused by their gender dysphoria, the distress that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity don´t match.
'In light of the plaintiffs' largely personal motives for undergoing gender-affirming care, neither the BOP nor the Executive Order provides any serious explanation as to why the treatment modalities covered by the Executive Order or implementing memoranda should be handled differently than any other mental health intervention,' Lamberth said.
Trump's order required the bureau to revise its medical care policies so that federal funds aren't spent 'for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex.'
There are approximately 1,500 federal prisoners who are transgender women and 750 transgender men, The New York Times reported.
One of the plaintiffs, Alishea Kingdom, is a transgender woman who was prescribed hormone therapy injections and approved to receive social accommodations, including women's undergarments and cosmetics.
Kingdom was denied her hormone shot three times after Trump signed his order, but she had it restored roughly a week after she sued. Her access to feminine undergarments hasn't been restored, according to the judge's ruling.
'In Ms. Kingdom's case, there is no indication at all that the BOP means to leave her hormone therapy in place long-term; indeed, as noted above, she was informed by BOP personnel that the decision to resume her treatment was a consequence of this litigation itself, raising the specter that her treatments might be discontinued as soon as the litigation has concluded,' Lamberth said.
Trump's order also directed the Bureau of Prisons to ensure that 'males are not detained in women's prisons,' but Lamberth blocked prison officials from transferring three incarcerated transgender women to men's facilities in February.
The judge said there's no evidence Trump or prison officials considered the harm the new policies could do to transgender inmates.
'The defendants argue that the plaintiffs have not alleged irreparable harm because they are all currently receiving hormone medications. But it suffices to say that all three plaintiffs' access to hormone therapy is, as best the Court can tell, tenuous,' Lamberth said.
Trump signed several orders rolling back protections for transgender people, ruling that the two 'immutable sexes' are 'not changeable.'
The orders directed federal prisons along with shelters for migrants and rape victims to be segregated by sex. He also directed federal money to be no longer be used to fund 'transition services.'
Transgender inmates were federally protected under the Barack Obama Administration, before Trump appealed the policy during his first term.
Obama's policy was later reenacted under the Joe Biden Administration and Trump once again appealing it.
The president also demanded officials use the term 'sex' rather than 'gender.' Federal agencies were urged to end funding to promote 'gender ideology' and protect against 'gender extremism.'
DailyMail.com contacted the Justice Department for comment. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment.
Transgender Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, who represent the transgender inmates, did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.