Trump Administration Moves to Roll Back Prison Rape Protections for Transgender and Intersex People

The Trump administration is preparing to roll back specific federal protections designed to prevent sexual assault of transgender and intersex people in custody, according to a Department of Justice memo obtained by the nonprofit news outlet Prism and published by The 19th News. The memo discusses proposed changes to how the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards apply to transgender and intersex people in federal prisons, signaling a shift away from policies that currently require individualized assessments of safety and placement.

PREA, which was enacted in 2003 with bipartisan support, sets nationwide standards intended to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse in detention settings, including federal prisons, state prisons, local jails, and immigration facilities. Under regulations finalized in 2012, facilities are required to consider gender identity, vulnerability to abuse, and the views of transgender and intersex people when making housing and programming decisions, rather than relying solely on sex assigned at birth.

The newly surfaced memo contends that several of these protections “do not align” with the Trump administration’s ideological approach to sex and gender, and suggests revising PREA-related policies to emphasize facility safety and “biological sex” classifications over gender identity.

According to reporting by The 19th News, the Department of Justice memo recommends limiting or removing requirements that federal prisons seriously consider housing transgender and intersex people according to their gender identity when determining placement. Existing PREA regulations direct facilities to assess each person “on a case-by-case basis” and prohibit assigning housing solely according to genital status.

The memo reportedly argues that some of these standards create operational difficulties for prisons and may conflict with the administration’s interpretation of sex-based policies, and instead encourages a return to default placements based on sex assigned at birth except in exceptional circumstances.

The document also addresses cross-gender searches and privacy protections. Current PREA standards seek to limit cross-gender pat-down searches of women and require that transgender and intersex people be given the opportunity to shower and change clothes without viewing by staff of a different gender whenever possible. The memo suggests reevaluating these provisions, indicating that some protections could be narrowed or reframed to give facilities broader discretion in how they conduct searches and supervise housing units.

The Department of Justice has not yet formally announced any regulatory changes, and the memo appears to outline internal recommendations and legal reasoning rather than finalized rules. Any changes to PREA regulations or related Federal Bureau of Prisons policies would typically require a rulemaking process, which could include public comment and potential legal challenges.

National and international research has documented that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people in detention face significantly higher rates of sexual victimization than the general incarcerated population. A 2013–2014 survey by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found that transgender people held in certain prison facilities reported sexual victimization rates many times higher than cisgender people in the same settings.

Advocates have long argued that these disparities are linked to factors such as housing assignments that disregard gender identity, placement in units where individuals are targeted for harassment, and lack of access to gender-affirming items and healthcare. PREA’s individualized assessment requirements and specific protections for transgender and intersex people were designed to address some of these vulnerabilities by requiring facilities to consider a person’s safety concerns and identity, rather than relying solely on binary classifications.

The American Medical Association has stated that policies affecting incarcerated transgender people should be informed by medical standards of care and human rights principles, including access to gender-affirming healthcare and protection from violence and harassment. Medical and public health organizations have warned that increasing exposure to sexual violence in custody can worsen physical and mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ people, including trauma-related conditions and barriers to future healthcare engagement.

Civil rights and LGBTQ+ organizations reacted with alarm to the reported DOJ memo, saying that narrowing PREA protections for transgender and intersex people would likely increase their exposure to sexual assault and abuse. Groups that monitor prison conditions note that, even with existing standards, implementation is uneven and many people in custody already struggle to secure safe housing and respectful treatment.

The American Civil Liberties Union has documented that transgender people in prison frequently report being housed in facilities that do not match their gender identity and experiencing high levels of harassment, assault, and denial of gender-affirming care. The ACLU argues that rolling back specific PREA protections could weaken one of the few federal tools available to challenge harmful placement decisions and unsafe conditions.

Legal advocates emphasize that PREA standards, while not themselves private causes of action, are often referenced in litigation challenging prison practices and in oversight by federal agencies. Narrowing protections for transgender and intersex people, they say, could make it harder to hold facilities accountable when individuals are placed in situations where the risk of sexual harm is foreseeable.

Organizations led by formerly incarcerated LGBTQ+ people have also warned that changes to PREA regulations would be felt most acutely by people with the fewest resources. Community advocates describe a pattern in which transgender women, in particular, are frequently housed in men’s facilities, where they may face targeted violence from other incarcerated people and staff.

The memo on PREA standards appears against a backdrop of broader Trump administration efforts to redefine federal protections related to sex and gender in ways that exclude or minimize recognition of transgender and nonbinary people. Earlier in 2025, the administration issued a series of executive orders and policy directives aimed at limiting the use of gender identity in federal programs and rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that explicitly reference LGBTQ+ communities.

These federal moves have taken place alongside an ongoing wave of state-level legislation targeting LGBTQ+ rights, particularly the rights of transgender youth. The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking hundreds of bills introduced in state legislatures in 2025 that would limit gender-affirming healthcare, restrict participation of transgender students in school sports, regulate restroom and facility access, and censor discussions of LGBTQ+ topics in classrooms. Separate data compiled by the Trans Legislation Tracker website shows that more than 1,000 bills affecting transgender and gender-nonconforming people have been under consideration across the country in 2025.

Advocates say that changes to PREA standards would extend this policy trend into the carceral system, where transgender and intersex people already face heightened risks and limited public visibility.

For transgender and intersex people in federal custody, the potential policy changes could affect several aspects of daily life that are closely tied to safety and dignity.

Housing placement is one of the most consequential issues. Under current PREA standards, decisions about whether to house a transgender person in a men’s or women’s facility, or in specialized units, must be made case by case and reviewed at least twice a year, taking into account the person’s views about their own safety. Advocates warn that if federal policy shifts toward a presumption of placement based on sex assigned at birth, fewer people will be placed in environments where they feel safe and affirmed.

Search and supervision policies also have direct implications for transgender and intersex people’s experiences. Current PREA standards emphasize minimizing cross-gender viewing of nude or partially clothed people and require training for staff on working with transgender and intersex populations. Narrowing these standards may mean more frequent cross-gender searches for transgender people, which many describe as invasive and distressing.

Healthcare access, while not the primary subject of the memo, is another area where federal policy decisions intersect with PREA implementation. Medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, have recognized gender-affirming care as medically necessary for many transgender people and stated that withholding such care in custody can cause significant harm. In practice, however, access to hormone therapy, mental health support, and gender-affirming items varies widely across facilities. Advocates fear that any broader retreat from recognizing gender identity in federal corrections policy could undermine efforts to improve healthcare access as well.

Members of Congress and civil rights groups are beginning to scrutinize the reported DOJ memo and signal potential oversight or legal challenges if the recommendations move forward. Lawmakers who have previously supported PREA implementation have emphasized that the statute passed with bipartisan backing and was intended to protect all people in custody, including LGBTQ+ people who face disproportionate risks.

Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Transgender Equality have suggested that policies that disregard known safety risks for transgender and intersex people could violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment and discrimination, and may therefore be subject to court challenges.

Advocates working directly with incarcerated LGBTQ+ people are urging community members and allies on the outside to monitor developments closely, support legal defense funds, and amplify the experiences of people in custody through letter-writing campaigns and public education. Some organizations have also pointed to the role of local and state-level oversight bodies, noting that even if federal standards are narrowed, states and individual facilities can choose to maintain or strengthen their own protections for transgender and intersex people under PREA.

Because the Department of Justice memo describes recommendations rather than finalized rules, the timeline and exact scope of any policy shift remain uncertain. Any formal regulatory changes related to PREA would normally undergo a public notice-and-comment process and could face litigation from civil rights groups and impacted individuals.

For incarcerated LGBTQ+ communities and their advocates, the memo is a signal that federal protections they have relied on for more than a decade may be at risk. As debates over LGBTQ+ rights continue in Congress, the courts, and state legislatures, the question of how the federal government safeguards the safety and dignity of transgender and intersex people in its custody is emerging as a critical test of national commitments to preventing sexual violence and protecting human rights.