A transgender inmate known as Maria Moe has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), challenging a recent executive order that halts taxpayer-funded medical treatments for gender dysphoria for federal prisoners. Moe, represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Lowenstein Sandler LLP, alleges the order violates their Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights.

Trump's executive order, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," prohibits federal funds from being used for medical procedures, treatments, or drugs related to gender transition for inmates. It also asserts the existence of only two sexes.

Moe, who has received hormone therapy since adolescence and has never been housed in a men's facility prior to their conviction, was transferred to a men's prison and their BOP records were changed from female to male following the executive order. The lawsuit contends that this transfer puts Moe at serious risk of harassment, abuse, violence, and sexual assault. It also argues that the denial of hormone therapy will worsen Moe's gender dysphoria.

The lawsuit further claims that the executive order will unlawfully transfer other transgender women in federal prisons to men's facilities and deny them necessary medical care. It highlights the potential dangers these women face, including strip searches by male officers, showering in view of male inmates, and the psychological distress of exacerbated gender dysphoria.

The lawsuit comes after the BOP, under previous policy, began funding gender transition surgeries for transgender inmates in 2022. Donna Langan, formerly Peter Kevin Langan, became the first federal inmate to undergo such a procedure using taxpayer money. Langan's transition followed years of legal battles and a 2021 settlement where the BOP agreed to provide gender transition surgery to Cristina Nichole Iglesias.

This case is one of several recent lawsuits concerning the denial of gender-affirming care for incarcerated individuals. Other cases include Autumn Cordellioné's lawsuit against Indiana for refusing gender transition surgery and a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration against Utah's Department of Corrections for creating barriers to gender dysphoria treatment for inmates. In another instance, Reiyn Keohane, a transgender woman imprisoned in Florida, sued the state's Department of Corrections for discontinuing hormone therapy and access to female clothing and grooming products.