Transgender Women (Men) in Women’s Prisons

 

Remember the applause for President Trump during his inaugural speech when he stated there are only two genders: male and female. His audience was ecstatic, given that we have seen innumerable attempts to create multiple genders and the wellbeing, not only of children, but adults, too, has been challenged.

Apparently, there is a judge who was not convinced of the wisdom of Trump’s Executive Order:

A U.S. judge has temporarily blocked federal prison officials from transferring a transgender woman to a men’s facility and denying her access to gender-affirming care in accordance with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, her lawyers said on Thursday.

The temporary restraining order was issued by U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston on Sunday while the inmate’s case was sealed in what appeared to be the first lawsuit challenging an order Trump signed on Jan. 20, his first day back in office, targeting what he called “gender ideology extremism.”

Trump’s order directed the federal government to only recognize two, biologically distinct sexes, male and female; house transgender women in men’s prisons; and cease funding for any gender-affirming medical care for inmates.

To clarify, a transgender woman is supposedly a man.

It’s important to emphasize that the most recent, legitimate science does not support “transgenderism.” Gender dysphoria, in rare situations, appears in 3 to 5-year-old children, and the children usually grow out of it. When the symptoms appear in teenagers and adults, these patients usually suffer from other mental problems and are often seriously depressed. Instead of encouraging them to participate in a therapy with no hidden agenda, these people are often persuaded that they are transgender.

So, why is transgenderism an issue in our prisons?

The argument is made that the transgender women (biological men) are harassed when they are transferred to male populations. It’s difficult to sympathize with their situations, since there is no way to verify if they are truly transgender. In fact, if they simply made the choice not to identify as transgender women, they’d likely have no problems in a male facility. But we are supposed to sympathize with their choices and incarcerate them with women.

Housing them with women creates more serious problems. We are essentially putting biological males in female facilities. Not only are the biological women subject to harassment by the males, they are in physical danger:

Women who allege they were raped in a California prison by a biological male claiming to be transgender will be compelled to refer to the defendant using she/her pronouns, a Madera County judge ruled last week, further complicating a case centered on a crime that was emboldened from the outset by the government.

Tremaine Carroll allegedly raped multiple inmates while at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla after securing placement there by self-identifying as transgender. The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, which took effect in January 2021, allows California inmates to be placed in a facility corresponding with the sex they say they are. Under the law, a prisoner need not be on hormones, have had surgery, or undergo a psychological evaluation to be approved. The government considers their testimony sufficient. [Italics are mine.]

If you are wondering how many people we are talking about, here is the data:

Of the 10,025 people in federal women’s prisons, 1,529 are men or 15.3%. Of the 143,714 people in federal men’s prisons, 744 are women or 0.5%. So-called transgender females are thus greater over represented in federal prisons relative to their share of women.

If action isn’t taken to discredit transgenderism, the numbers are likely to grow.

There are arguments for and against Trump’s order:

[Dee]Farmer, who now runs the prison advocacy organization Fight4Justice, said she viewed the order ‘as an infringement upon the right to be safe from sexual assault.’ She, and other formerly incarcerated trans women, as well as advocates fighting on behalf of transgender people, say this order poses a serious risk to the health and safety of the thousands of transgender people behind bars.

For supporters of the order, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, a self-described conservative Christian legal advocacy group, it’s a much-needed change to standards that put cisgender women in female facilities in danger.

‘We’re very pleased to see President Trump restore sanity to this issue and to make sure that we have a proper understanding of sex, and that that understanding flows down to schools, prisons, other places where the privacy and safety of women are paramount,’ said Matt Sharp, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom.

We don’t “owe” transgender care to the males who are imprisoned. They have made a choice about their identity, and that choice puts them at risk of rape if they are openly trans in a male prison. In a women’s facility, however, the women are at risk of rape and abuse if transgender women (biological men) are housed with them. These women are already serving time for their crimes, and the additional burden of men housed in their facility is added punishment. I don’t care whether these men are uncomfortable.

They’ve made their choice.

Published in Culture
This post was promoted to the Main Feed at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 20 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    A man does not have to be transgender to be at risk of rape in a men’s prison.

    Susan Quinn: U.S. District Judge George O’Toole

    A most unfortunate name.

    • #1
  2. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Arahant (View Comment):

    A man does not have to be transgender to be at risk of rape in a men’s prison.

    Susan Quinn: U.S. District Judge George O’Toole

    A most unfortunate name.

    That’s true. I guess he shouldn’t have committed the crime.

    • #2
  3. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):
    I guess he shouldn’t have committed the crime.

    You are apparently taking much more out of my response than I put into it.

    • #3
  4. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):
    I guess he shouldn’t have committed the crime.

    You are apparently taking much more out of my response than I put into it.

    I don’t like misunderstandings or a lack of clarity. I assumed you were saying that men are raped by men in men’s facilities. And you were pointing to another meaning of O’Toole’s name. Did I get that right?

    • #4
  5. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    This horrific story is at powerlineblog.com this morning:

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/living-the-trans-life-in-prison.php

    That this happens is just mind-boggling. And the fact that people support this is even more mind-boggling.

    We have a severe mental health crisis re this issue.

    Is Admiral Levine still at HHS pushing this hogwash as care for the person?

    • #5
  6. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):
    Is Admiral Levine still at HHS pushing this hogwash as care for the person?

    My hope is that he will gone from HHS, and yesterday is not soon enough. 

    • #6
  7. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Seems like these one-district federal judges need to be “respected,” at most, only within their single district.  The idea of what Dennis Miller referred to as a “Strip-Mall Judge in Hawaii” exercising control over the entire country, is invalid and unjustified.  At most, they can be followed within their district, while the case is taken to a higher court to be overruled.

    • #7
  8. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    Susan Quinn: They have made a choice about their identity,

    …. and about the crimes They committed. 

    • #8
  9. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Jimmy Carter (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: They have made a choice about their identity,

    …. and about the crimes They committed.

    Very true, Jimmy. Thanks.

    • #9
  10. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    My opinion based mostly on anecdotal information (and thus subject to revision if more statistical information comes in) is that a large number of the male inmates who claim to be “transgender” and thus seek to be transferred to women’s prisons are sexual predators who have been convicted of sexual crimes against women and children.

    Which causes me to suspect that a lot of the claims of “transgenderism” by male inmate are part of efforts by the inmates to gain easy access to a literally captive population of potential victims. 

    • #10
  11. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    My opinion based mostly on anecdotal information (and thus subject to revision if more statistical information comes in) is that a large number of the male inmates who claim to be “transgender” and thus seek to be transferred to women’s prisons are sexual predators who have been convicted of sexual crimes against women and children.

    Which causes me to suspect that a lot of the claims of “transgenderism” by male inmate are part of efforts by the inmates to gain easy access to a literally captive population of potential victims.

    And because they know how they’re likely to be treated in a men’s prison.

    • #11
  12. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    My opinion based mostly on anecdotal information (and thus subject to revision if more statistical information comes in) is that a large number of the male inmates who claim to be “transgender” and thus seek to be transferred to women’s prisons are sexual predators who have been convicted of sexual crimes against women and children.

    Which causes me to suspect that a lot of the claims of “transgenderism” by male inmate are part of efforts by the inmates to gain easy access to a literally captive population of potential victims.

    I’m glad to have another person support my understanding, FST. The victims may be afraid of reporting the attacks. 

    • #12
  13. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    This is a good illustration of how it is impossible to engage in good faith debate with a vast swath of progressives.  If someone uses the term “transgender woman” it is the end of any discussion on my part .  It’s an utter waste of time.

    • #13
  14. Terence Smith Coolidge
    Terence Smith
    @TerrySmith

    Susan Quinn:

    If you are wondering how many people we are talking about, here is the data:

    Of the 10,025 people in federal women’s prisons, 1,529 are men or 15.3%. Of the 143,714 people in federal men’s prisons, 744 are women or 0.5%. So-called transgender females are thus greater over represented in federal prisons relative to their share of women.

    The is just a shocking statistic on the number of males in women’s prisons.

    IMO by far the best thing DJT has done to date was to issue an executive order halting the transitioning of children. The next best thing is his attacks the Orwellian insanity  of transgender ideology.  He may overreach (not in this case) but it is necessary to kill this off. 

    • #14
  15. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Terence Smith (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn:

    If you are wondering how many people we are talking about, here is the data:

    Of the 10,025 people in federal women’s prisons, 1,529 are men or 15.3%. Of the 143,714 people in federal men’s prisons, 744 are women or 0.5%. So-called transgender females are thus greater over represented in federal prisons relative to their share of women.

    The is just a shocking statistic on the number of males in women’s prisons.

    IMO by far the best thing DJT has done to date was to issue an executive order halting the transitioning of children. The next best thing is his attacks the Orwellian insanity of transgender ideology. He may overreach (not in this case) but it is necessary to kill this off.

    We are in total agreement, Terence. I just read that some states are working on giving permission to people to alter the sex on their birth certificates. Isn’t that great?!

    • #15
  16. Bartholomew Xerxes Ogilvie, Jr. Coolidge
    Bartholomew Xerxes Ogilvie, Jr.
    @BartholomewXerxesOgilvieJr

    Susan Quinn: It’s difficult to sympathize with their situations, since there is no way to verify if they are truly transgender.

    I would not concede even that much.

    I’m reminded of a line from comedian Jimmy Carr: “It’s actually easy to tell if your house is haunted. It isn’t.”

    • #16
  17. Susan Quinn Member
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Bartholomew Xerxes Ogilvie, Jr. (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: It’s difficult to sympathize with their situations, since there is no way to verify if they are truly transgender.

    I would not concede even that much.

    I’m reminded of a line from comedian Jimmy Carr: “It’s actually easy to tell if your house is haunted. It isn’t.”

    Perfect, BXO. Well said and so succinctly.

    • #17
  18. carcat74 Member
    carcat74
    @carcat74

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    This horrific story is at powerlineblog.com this morning:

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/02/living-the-trans-life-in-prison.php

    That this happens is just mind-boggling. And the fact that people support this is even more mind-boggling.

    We have a severe mental health crisis re this issue.

    Is Admiral Levine still at HHS pushing this hogwash as care for the person?

    No, I searched the net and found an article showing ‘it’ posing in ‘its’ office shortly before leaving office. I think ‘it’ should be stripped of the admiral title. Did ‘it’ actually serve in the military? If so, bust ‘it’ down to the lowest level, and issue a dishonorable discharge to ‘it’. Nothing ‘it’ did was honorable, or worthy of anything but derision and scorn.

    • #18
  19. carcat74 Member
    carcat74
    @carcat74

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Seems like these one-district federal judges need to be “respected,” at most, only within their single district. The idea of what Dennis Miller referred to as a “Strip-Mall Judge in Hawaii” exercising control over the entire country, is invalid and unjustified. At most, they can be followed within their district, while the case is taken to a higher court to be overruled.

    I never have been able to figure out how a renegade judge in a minor district, even if its at the federal level, can issue injunctions that cover the entire country. The only benefit I see to this is it gets challenged immediately, and ends up in a higher court, where it might get over-ruled. Then an appeal is filed, and it gets kicked up higher. Is that the goal here? To force issues all the way up to the Supreme Court, where it supposedly will get resolved the way the original order that got the injunction intended? I’m thinking Lucy and the football here — we’ve been burned too many times in the past at SCOTUS. (Please note — I had a word describing the judge that MIGHT have gotten COC’d, so I changed it.)

    • #19
  20. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    carcat74 (View Comment):
    (Please note — I had a word describing the judge that MIGHT have gotten COC’d, so I changed it.)

    I dunno, if the judge isn’t a member of Ricochet, isn’t it pretty much open season?

    • #20
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.