Earlier this month, a federal appellate court overturned a previous ruling, allowing the state of Oregon to house transgender female inmates to men’s prisons. Under the lower court’s now defunct ruling, a transgender inmate would be sent to prisons according to their identity, unless a review deemed it necessary to place a person in a prison matching their gender at birth. This had been intended to address the overwhelming majority of trans women who are sent to men’s prisons in the state, but this new ruling passed down by three Trump-appointed judges will bring an end to that initiative, at least for the time being.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Prisons has initiated a new policy that will deny gender-affirming care to transgender inmates across the country. The policy claims a need for a “meaningful basis for identification” and updates the language used to describe gender affirming care. Under the policy, transgender inmates will lose all access to gender-affirming surgeries, clothing, toiletries, and those on hormone replacement will instead be treated with antidepressants.
The matter is by no means settled, though. This year, 14 transgender inmates took the administration to court and won, disallowing transgender inmates to be transferred to men’s prisons. This victory shows that, even as the administration escalates and intensifies its attacks against marginalized groups across the country, they can be beaten in court. There are countless courts across the country, and a case that fails in one court may succeed in another.
The Trump administration doesn’t seem like it will let up on attacking the trans community anytime soon, but neither will anyone give up on resisting the President’s agenda. Administrations come and go, but communities last much longer. The trans community and LGBTQ+ family as a whole have been around a long time, and will be here long after the current administration is gone.
Photo courtesy of The Salem Reporter
