Advocates Seek to Reinstate Gender Affirming Care for Incarcerated People in NC

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The ACLU of North Carolina and Emancipate NC filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and a request for class certification in a case challenging a provision of House Bill 805 that creates dangerous obstacles to gender-affirming care for people who are incarcerated.

The bill, which targets transgender and gender non-conforming North Carolinians, was passed into law in 2025 despite Gov. Stein’s veto. The lawsuit specifically challenges Section 3 of the bill, which bans the use of state funds to provide gender-affirming care for people who are incarcerated in North Carolina prisons unless they will experience “imminent physical harm” without it. This provision creates a dangerous and medically unjustified standard for providing gender-affirming care to those who are incarcerated.

The plaintiffs in the case are incarcerated in North Carolina state prisons and have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. They are currently prescribed hormone therapy and have faced abrupt stoppages in their care since the law’s passage, resulting in painful and dangerous side effects. Without relief, these individuals will continue to experience psychological harm as they anticipate that their hormone medication may be cut off again at any time.

Additionally, some plaintiffs are candidates for gender-affirming surgery. All requests for gender-affirming surgery are being categorically denied under the new law, regardless of medical need.

A preliminary injunction would stop the enforcement of this provision of the law while the case moves through the courts, allowing transgender and gender non-conforming people who are incarcerated to continue to receive medically necessary gender-affirming care.

The request for class certification would allow the five named plaintiffs in the case to represent all people who will be similarly impacted by the law. If granted, success in the case would benefit all similarly situated individuals.

“The state has a responsibility to provide medically necessary care to the people in its custody, and that includes gender-affirming care,” said Jaclyn Maffetore, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of North Carolina. “By passing HB805, the state has abandoned its responsibility to care for its citizens, and instead imposes suffering and cruelty in the name of politics.”

“Gender-affirming care is life-saving care,” said Elizabeth Simpson, strategic director for Emancipate NC. “This law is motivated by cruelty towards some of the most vulnerable people in our state, and it should be enjoined as unconstitutional.”

You can read the case filings below.

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