DOJ Halts LGBTQ+ & Intersex Safety Standards in Prisons Amid Trump-Era Policy Shift; Advocates Warn of Increased Danger for Inmates

DOJ Halts Enforcement of LGBTQ+ & Intersex Prison Safety Standards

The U.S. Justice Department has issued a directive stopping prison inspectors from using specific standards designed to protect LGBTQ+ and intersex inmates from sexual violence. This significant policy shift, detailed in an internal memo obtained by NPR, aligns with the Trump administration's stance on "gender ideology extremism," sparking widespread concern among advocates.

Revising PREA Standards Amidst Executive Order

The memo clarifies that the DOJ is actively revising federal guidelines under the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). These revisions aim to incorporate a January 20 executive order from President Trump, which narrowly defines sex as male and female. While this process is ongoing, detention centers undergoing PREA audits—including federal and state prisons, jails, juvenile, and immigration detention facilities—will no longer be evaluated against standards specifically designed to safeguard LGBTQ+ and intersex individuals.

Auditors, certified by the DOJ but hired by correctional agencies, have been instructed to mark these crucial safety standards as "not applicable." This controversial directive comes despite the fact that the current PREA standards technically remain legally binding until the revision process is finalized.

Increased Risk for Vulnerable Populations

Compelling data consistently highlights the exceptional vulnerability of transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming individuals to sexual assault during incarceration. A stark 2015 survey conducted by the criminal justice group Black and Pink revealed that LGBTQ+ prisoners were over six times more likely to experience sexual assault than the general prison population, based on responses from more than 1,110 inmates.

Brenda Smith, a distinguished professor at American University Washington College of Law and director of The Project on Addressing Prison Rape, who was a key figure in developing the original PREA standards, suggests that the available data likely underrepresents the true extent of this problem. She firmly states that the new changes outlined in the memo tragically disregard this grim reality.

Linda McFarlane, executive director of Just Detention International—a human rights organization dedicated to eradicating sexual abuse in detention and an advocate for PREA's passage in 2003—has warned emphatically that this policy rollback "will immediately put people in danger." McFarlane further elaborated, "When facilities are less safe for the most vulnerable and marginalized, they're less safe for everybody."

Specific Changes to Auditing Protocols

In practical terms, the DOJ memo mandates that auditors will no longer assess whether facilities house transgender people based on their gender identity and individualized, case-by-case considerations. Moreover, auditors are now instructed to disregard whether any reported sexual assaults were motivated by gender-identity bias, effectively diminishing a critical aspect of evaluating abuse.

A Broader Pattern of Policy Shifts

This latest directive is part of a series of actions initiated by the Trump administration that have sought to diminish legal protections for transgender individuals, particularly those within the carceral system. Early in his tenure, President Trump reversed long-standing federal policies that allowed incarcerated trans women to be housed in facilities aligning with their gender identity. Other executive orders include banning transgender individuals from openly serving in the military and restricting gender-affirming care for minors, all of which have faced extensive legal challenges and ongoing court battles.

Earlier in the spring, the DOJ also implemented substantial funding cuts to crime-victim advocacy programs nationwide, including the vital National PREA Resource Center—the organization responsible for training auditors, tracking investigation outcomes, and providing essential resources to victims and auditors. While significant portions of the funding were later reinstated following widespread media reports, the DOJ's earlier statement to NPR indicated a focus on "prosecuting criminals, getting illegal drugs off of the streets, and protecting American institutions from toxic DEI and sanctuary city policies," signaling a clear shift in discretionary fund allocation priorities.

Bipartisan Origins and Lingering Confusion

It is important to remember that the original PREA standards were the culmination of years of bipartisan effort, developed in direct response to overwhelming data, anecdotal evidence, and a seminal Human Rights Watch report that unequivocally demonstrated the pervasive and serious problem of sexual violence behind bars. The most recent data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that in 2020, correctional administrators reported 36,264 allegations of sexual victimization across U.S. adult correctional facilities, with 2,351 substantiated after investigation.

Despite the DOJ memo, the National Association of PREA Coordinators, a professional body ensuring agencies' compliance, has clarified that since no new regulations have been finalized, the current PREA standards legally remain unchanged. This discrepancy has created considerable confusion. Kenneth L. James, a PREA auditor across multiple states, commented to NPR that the memo makes auditors' jobs "both more confusing and more difficult," potentially leading to inaccurate compliance calculations. He expressed a hope that facilities, given PREA's long-standing presence, will still "do what is best for the incarcerated population." However, the memo's instruction to mark standards as "not applicable" essentially allows state and local governments the discretion to either adhere to or disregard these critical protections, fostering significant uncertainty and heightening concerns for the safety of incarcerated individuals.