BOP rescinds the Transgender Offender Manual; pronoun, clothing, and search accommodations eliminated

Guidance/memoBOP

Date
Actor
Bureau of Prisons (Acting Director William Lothrop)
Agency
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
Type
Guidance/memo
Section
PRISONS, DETENTION, AND IMMIGRATION (BOP, DHS/ICE, EOIR, ASYLUM)

Summary

A February 25, 2025 memorandum from Acting Director William Lothrop rescinded the Transgender Offender Manual (PS 5200.08, the policy implementing PREA's individualized-placement requirements for transgender prisoners) "effective immediately" and ordered it removed from the BOP intranet and prison law libraries. The memo directed staff to refer to prisoners "by their legal name or pronouns corresponding to their biological sex," eliminated search accommodations, and barred clothing accommodations such as undergarments not aligned with birth sex (prisoners could keep previously purchased commissary items, reversing confiscations some wardens had already carried out). It left no BOP policy document governing transgender prisoners' housing, safety, or care.

Status

Manual remains rescinded; superseded as formal policy by PS 5260.01 (Feb. 19, 2026, below). The rescission and successor policy are challenged in Kingdom v. Trump and the consolidated Doe litigation. Update, Sept. 23, 2026: As of Sept. 23, 2026, Kingdom v. Trump (D.D.C. No. 1:25-cv-00691) remained open, with three D.C. Circuit appeals (Nos. 26-5181, 26-5236 and 26-5310); on Sept. 18, 2026, the D.C. Circuit denied the government's motion to stay the district court's Aug. 26, 2026 reissued injunction against Program Statement 5260.01, and no merits ruling has issued.

As recorded in the data of . Check the sources for anything newer.

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