Press Release: BRO Condemns Federal Ruling on Trans Women Prisoners

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

September 21, 2026 

Contact: media@basicrights.org  

Basic Rights Oregon Condemns Federal Ruling on Trans Women Prisoners 

New Federal court ruling dehumanizes trans women and puts them at heightened risk for physical and sexual assault. 

Coffee Creek Correctional Institution in Wilsonville, Oregon's only women's prison
(Allison Frost / OPB)

 Portland, Ore. — Basic Rights Oregon condemns in the fullest terms the recent ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which states that Oregon does not need to house transgender women in custody in its women's prison. We believe this ruling is based on animus toward a vulnerable, marginalized group and will lead to dangerous outcomes.  

Trans women are women, and just as a cisgender woman would never be housed in a male prison, neither should trans women. There are countless records of trans women suffering physical and sexual assault when placed in male prisons. This ruling will, unfortunately, only add to that history of suffering and trauma.  

We also condemn the bigoted language used by Trump-appointed judge Eric Tung in his ruling, where he referred to trans women as, "male inmates who think they are women," and said that placing them in women's prisons, "compromises public safety." We believe this dehumanizing rhetoric has no place in the law and is at odds with Oregon values.  

Trans women are our family members, neighbors and colleagues. Politicians like Trump and judges like Tung seek to portray them as monsters, but we at Basic Rights Oregon continue to fight for their full and complete equality. Trans women in custody belong in women's prisons. 

### 

Basic Rights Oregon is the state’s largest and longest running nonprofit LGBTQ2SIA+ advocacy group. Our mission is to ensure that all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Oregonians experience equality by building a broad and inclusive politically powerful movement, shifting public opinion and achieving policy victories. For more information, visit www.basicrights.org.