Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans and intersex people, memo says [View all]
https://prismreports.org/2025/12/04/prison-rape-elimination-act-trans-intersex-trump-doj/
The Department of Justice (DOJ) plans to dismantle protections for trans and intersex people in federal, state, and local prisons, jails, and youth detention facilities, according to a government memo obtained by Prism.
The memo, dated Dec. 2, takes aim at existing standards of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) that the department says do not comport with the Trump administrations first-day executive order that, among other things, targeted protections for trans people behind bars. PREA was passed in 2003, and President Barack Obama added new protections for LGBTQIA+ people to the DOJs PREA rulebook in 2012.
The proposed changes would affect all facilities that are subject to PREA standards, including adult prisons and jails, lockups, community confinement facilities such as halfway houses, and juvenile facilities that are operated by the DOJ, state, or local governments or by corporate or nonprofit organizations.
Facilities operated by other agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, are subject to their own detention standards.