Georgia Transgender Inmates File Lawsuit Over Ban on Gender-Affirming Care
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – A group of transgender inmates in Georgia’s prison system has filed a class action lawsuit challenging a new state law that bans gender-affirming medical care for incarcerated individuals, arguing the measure violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by five plaintiffs representing nearly 300 transgender inmates, targets Senate Bill 185, signed into law in May by Gov. Brian Kemp. The law prohibits the use of state resources for treatments such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), gender-affirming surgeries, cosmetic procedures, and prosthetics when used to treat gender dysphoria.
Law Forces Inmates to Detransition
Under SB 185, trans inmates cannot use state funds for gender-affirming care — and state officials say they also cannot pay for it themselves while incarcerated. This means some prisoners who have been on HRT for years have been forced to stop treatment abruptly, a process known as forced detransition.
According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the suit alongside Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP, this has caused severe physical and mental health consequences. One plaintiff, Fantasia Horton, who began HRT in 2019, reported that her treatment was stopped immediately after the law took effect, despite medical advice to taper doses gradually.
Medical Experts Warn of Harm
Medical professionals warn that suddenly ending gender-affirming care can lead to dangerous physical effects and severe psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
“Taking away individuals’ access to gender-affirming therapies while in prison constitutes cruel and unusual punishment,” Atlanta-based psychologist Jan T. Mooney and physician Mark Spencer wrote in an April opinion piece, emphasizing that hormone withdrawal should be managed over several months, not halted overnight.
A History of Legal Battles
This is not Georgia’s first legal fight over transgender healthcare in prisons. In 2015, Ashley Diamond, a Black transgender woman, sued the state for denying her hormone therapy and placing her in men’s prisons. That case ended in a settlement and led to policy changes — but advocates say the new law reverses much of that progress.
Attorney Chinyere Ezie, who represented Diamond a decade ago and now leads the current lawsuit, said it feels like “a time machine going back in time,” as activists are forced to fight for rights they thought were already secured.
Potential National Impact
Similar laws have been struck down elsewhere. A federal court overturned Wisconsin’s 2005 ban on prison-provided HRT and surgeries, finding it unconstitutional. In Colorado, a lawsuit led to a settlement requiring reforms in housing and healthcare for transgender inmates.
If successful, the Georgia plaintiffs hope to set another precedent, though Ezie acknowledged that reversing the law would be just one step in a larger battle against anti-trans policies nationwide.
“We’re going to continue to use the courts, continue to organize, and lobby against bills like this that cause so much preventable harm,” Ezie said. “This is why we fight.”
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