The Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court order preventing the Bureau of Prisons from denying previously prescribed transgender procedures to prison inmates.
The court denied the stay in an unsigned order, noting that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have granted the stay.
BREAKING
Supreme Court DENIES Trump administration's request to allow the implementation of a rule blocking sex-rejecting procedures for prisoners.
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— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) October 21, 2026
The Bureau of Prisons under President Joe Biden had addressed gender dysphoria by providing inmates both mental-health treatment such as psychotherapy and sex-rejecting interventions, such as hormone injections, sex-trait-modification surgeries, and social accommodations.
Earlier this year, however, the bureau determined that sex-rejecting procedures “could no longer be justified as treatment for gender dysphoria.” The administration noted many flaws with the previous rules, including what the administration described as overreliance on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
Prisoners, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Transgender Law Center, sued on claims that denying the previously-prescribed interventions violated their constitutional rights.
The plaintiffs claimed the policy violated their Eighth Amendment rights protecting them from cruel and unusual punishment. They also raised claims under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment.
The Trump administration claims the injunction is harming the government’s ability to implement policy.
“Without meaningfully engaging with either BOP’s reasoning or the administrative record, the district court prohibited BOP from applying its 2026 policy to any inmate who is or will be diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the application for a stay.
The bureau argued that its revised policy reflects treatment for gender dysphoria that is “more aligned with the latest scientific information,” concluding that sex-rejecting procedures are “not medically necessary.”
Sauer also noted the bureau’s finding that providing such interventions would “raise fairness concerns” and “breed resentment among other inmates,” because they represent costly interventions. The bureau also found that accommodating social transition requests could permit inmates to “hide contraband” or “obfuscate or conceal” their identity.
Sauer argued that the bureau relied on its “experience and expertise” in concluding that greater access to sex-rejecting procedures increased security and prison-administration concerns.
“Prison administration is … a task that has been committed to the responsibility of [the legislative and executive] branches, and separation of powers concerns counsel a policy of judicial restraint,” the solicitor general argued.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
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[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
