Stop Forced Medical Detransition in Federal Prisons

The Trump administration's Bureau of Prisons policy forcing approximately 2,200 trans people in federal custody to medically detransition must be stopped. This is forced conversion therapy on a captive population, and it violates basic human rights to bodily autonomy. Even people in prison retain the right to make their own medical decisions. The administrative record released on March 12th proves the BOP knowingly ignored medical consensus. They reviewed the DSM-5, WPATH Standards of Care, and guidelines from the American Psychological Association and Endocrine Society, then deliberately rejected them. They relied instead on the Cass Review and sources about trans minors, neither of which apply to adults in federal prisons. They copied Florida's policy word-for-word, which Florida admitted was created due to political pressure, not medical evidence. Worse, the BOP reviewed 10 studies on suicide risk among trans people while implementing a policy that does the opposite of what those studies recommend. They included research on tapering menopausal hormone therapy to justify forcing trans people off hormones, which is medical experimentation on a different condition entirely. They even reviewed CDC standards for documenting suicide data, suggesting they expect trans people to die and want to track it rather than prevent it. Judge Royce Lamberth has temporarily blocked this policy for 800 people diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Defend that injunction and work to permanently end this policy. Bodily autonomy is a human right that doesn't disappear behind bars.