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Boston judge blocks transfer of trans woman to men’s prison
“Maria Moe” is now back in the general population at a women's prison and receiving her medical care, her lawyers confirmed.
A federal judge in Boston has temporarily blocked prison officials from transferring an incarcerated transgender woman to a men’s facility under a recent executive order from President Donald Trump.
Judge George O’Toole issued the temporary restraining order last week after the woman filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s Jan. 20 order, which targets so-called “gender ideology extremism.” The order directs federal officials to only recognize two unchangeable sexes; bars transgender women from women’s prisons; and stipulates no federal funds should be spent on inmates’ gender-affirming care.
Under the pseudonym “Maria Moe,” the Massachusetts inmate sued the Trump administration Jan. 26 after she was removed from the general population at the women’s prison where she is incarcerated. Moe was placed in a special housing unit and informed she would be transferred to a men’s facility in light of Trump’s order, according to the lawsuit.
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O’Toole’s temporary relief ensures Moe will remain in place while the judge considers her request for a longer term injunction to bar the enforcement of Trump’s order. Moe’s lawyers with Boston-based GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, or GLAD Law, confirmed she is now back in general population and receiving her medical care.
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Moe came out to her mother as transgender when she was in middle school and began hormone therapy around age 15 after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria, her lawsuit explains. Until Jan. 23, prison officials classified her as female, according to the complaint.
Moe does not have a violent disciplinary history and poses no threat to her female peers, according to the complaint. If transferred to a men’s facility, “she will be at an extremely high risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault,” her lawyers said.
In a men’s prison, Moe may be subject to strip searches by male officers and may be forced to shower in full view of male inmates, her lawyers said, while also noting she is “at imminent risk” of losing access to medical care for her gender dysphoria.
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Trump’s order “directly targets transgender Americans by attempting to deny them legal recognition under federal law and to strip them of long-established legal protections,” Moe’s lawsuit asserts. In addition to Trump, the complaint names acting U.S. Attorney General James McHenry III and acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons William Lothrop.
“As a mother, I am terrified for my daughter’s safety and well-being if she is placed in a men’s prison,” Moe’s mother wrote in an accompanying filing. “I know how vulnerable she would be in that environment, surrounded by people who would see her as an easy target for violence.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Jennifer Levi, GLAD Law’s senior director of transgender and queer rights, said O’Toole’s decision came as a “huge relief” to Moe.
“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 said in a statement. “It’s part of a seemingly sustained attack on transgender people’s inclusion in civic life. The Courts remain an important backstop. This is a great first step in the case.”
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Three other incarcerated transgender women have filed a similar federal lawsuit against the Trump administration in Washington, D.C.
