WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 21, rejected a bid by President Donald Trump's administration to immediately enforce a policy restricting gender-affirming care for transgender inmates in federal prisons, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via WNCY

The court denied the Justice Department's emergency request to lift a federal judge's order blocking the Federal Bureau of Prisons from implementing the policy while a legal challenge to the measure plays out. The Supreme Court's brief order gave no explanation, as is common on emergency requests, and conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito publicly dissented.

Oct. 21Date of the Supreme Court's unsigned order
2Justices who publicly dissented — Thomas and Alito
2,000+Transgender inmates in federal facilities and halfway houses, by a 2025 government figure cited by Reuters
~1,000People with a gender dysphoria diagnosis in the class action, according to Medical Daily's summary of the case

The policy, issued in February, prohibits medical and surgical treatments as well as any 'social accommodations' such as clothing and hair-removal devices that could be used to alter a person's appearance to align with their gender identity, Reuters reported. The policy would still allow psychiatric services to be provided.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington, D.C., blocked the bureau's policy this summer, and a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to pause his order, according to Medical Daily's account of the case. Solicitor General D. John Sauer then took the case to the Supreme Court. The denial does not decide whether the policy is lawful; it preserves the existing position while appeals continue.

Source: Medical Daily

Three transgender inmates held at federal correctional institutions in New Jersey, Florida and Minnesota filed the class-action lawsuit challenging the policy, Reuters reported. The case is known as Kingdom v. Trump. The American Civil Liberties Union estimates roughly 800 class members have prescriptions for hormone therapy, and the bureau said in 2025 that it was providing hormone therapy to more than 600 people, according to Medical Daily.

'This ruling will prevent serious and irreparable harm to plaintiffs and the class while we continue to challenge the government's unlawful efforts to deny medically necessary healthcare for political reasons,' said Aditi Shah, an attorney at the ACLU, which helps represent the inmates. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on the decision, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via SRN News