Federal Judge Orders Georgia Prisons To Continue Hormone Therapy For Transgender Inmates; State To Appeal

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge has issued a permanent order requiring Georgia’s prison system to continue providing certain gender-affirming medical treatments to transgender inmates, even as the state prepares to appeal.

U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert concluded last week that a recently enacted Georgia law that bars hormone therapy for incarcerated people violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Her ruling directs the state to continue supplying hormone therapy to inmates who were already receiving it and to allow inmates medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria to begin treatment.

“The court finds that there is no genuine dispute of fact that gender dysphoria is a serious medical need,” Calvert wrote. “Plaintiffs, through their experts, have presented evidence that a blanket ban on hormone therapy constitutes grossly inadequate care for gender dysphoria and risks imminent injury.”

Calvert had previously issued a preliminary injunction in September blocking enforcement of the law while the case proceeded. The new, permanent order comes amid a broader national debate and a string of court battles over rules affecting transgender people, including access to health care, participation in sports and use of public restrooms.

Legal And Political Context

The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of transgender prisoners after the Georgia Legislature in May passed a law prohibiting the use of state funds for hormone therapy, gender-transition surgery and other interventions intended to alter sexual characteristics. Senator Randy Robertson, the bill’s sponsor, defended the measure, saying it should not be a taxpayer-funded health-care responsibility.

State lawyers have filed a notice of appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr called the lawsuit “absurd” and said he would fight the case “all the way to the Supreme Court.” Governor Brian Kemp signed the law in May after a contentious 2025 legislative session in which most House Democrats staged a walkout over the final vote.

Facts And Court Findings

Georgia began offering hormone therapy to incarcerated people in 2016 following a prior legal settlement. In mid-August, prison officials reported that more than 340 inmates had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and that 107 were receiving hormone therapy as of June 30.

In court, the state offered studies and testimony it said showed removing or denying hormone therapy does not satisfy the legal standard for “deliberate indifference.” Judge Calvert declined to rely on that evidence, finding that prison physicians’ testimony reflected compliance with the new law rather than independent medical judgments that inmates lacked clinical need for hormones. She also found the state’s proposed counseling and monitoring plans to be inadequate.

“Defendants cannot deny medical care and then defeat an injunction by saying nothing bad has happened yet,” Calvert wrote.

State attorneys have argued that recent court decisions—including the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors and an 11th Circuit decision involving a Georgia county’s obligation to pay for transition-related surgery—support legislative authority to regulate such procedures. The state wrote that legislatures have wide discretion to regulate cross-sex hormonal interventions.

What Comes Next

The 11th Circuit will now consider Georgia’s appeal. The outcome could have significant implications for how states regulate gender-affirming care in correctional settings and for constitutional protections for incarcerated people with medically recognized conditions. Both sides appear prepared to continue litigation, and the dispute could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court.