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. 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 plays out.
The Supreme Court's brief order gave no explanation, as is common when the justices handle emergency requests, and conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito publicly dissented, Reuters and NPR both reported. NPR reported the unsigned order simply read that the application for a stay was denied, and that the decision maintains the lower court's injunction on a Bureau of Prisons policy that would terminate hormone therapy and other treatments for transgender inmates.
Source: NPR via Ocean State Media — Supreme Court upholds pause on Trump's anti-trans prison policy
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, while still allowing psychiatric services, Reuters reported. It followed a January 2025 executive order directing that federal funds not be spent to conform an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex, NPR reported.
Three transgender inmates held at federal correctional institutions in New Jersey, Florida and Minnesota filed the class-action lawsuit challenging the policy, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth barred the Bureau of Prisons from implementing its policy this summer, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit also rejected the administration's request to pause Lamberth's order, NPR reported; the Minnesota Lawyer summary of the case noted the D.C. Circuit refused that request on September 18.
Source: NPR via Ocean State Media — Supreme Court upholds pause on Trump's anti-trans prison policy
Lawyers for the inmates welcomed the decision. '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 American Civil Liberties Union, quoted by Reuters. The Transgender Law Center, which also represents inmates in the case, said in its statement that the court denied the stay request against the preliminary injunction issued in June. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on the decision, Reuters reported.
Source: Transgender Law Center / ACLU statement — Supreme Court denies Trump administration request
What is solid
- The Supreme Court denied the administration's emergency stay request on Oct. 21, leaving Judge Lamberth's injunction in place while the case continues — reported by Reuters and NPR.
- Justices Thomas and Alito said they would have granted the stay; the unsigned order gave no reasons — both sources.
- The February Bureau of Prisons policy would bar medical and surgical treatments and social accommodations, while allowing psychiatric services — Reuters.
What is only claimed
- Whether the policy itself is lawful — including the plaintiffs' Eighth Amendment claim — has NOT been decided; Wednesday's order was only an emergency-docket refusal to lift an injunction, not a final ruling on the merits.