The Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Wednesday that USA Powerlifting discriminated against a male athlete claiming to be female who attempted to compete in the women’s division.
JayCee Cooper, a transgender athlete, sued USA Powerlifting in 2021, claiming the organization engaged in discriminatory practices after rejecting his application to compete in the women’s division in 2018 and violated Minnesota’s Human Rights Act. The court’s unanimous decision came from a seven-member bench composed entirely of Democrat-appointed justices.
“We agree with Cooper that USA Powerlifting’s policy is discriminatory on its face; there is therefore no genuine dispute that USA Powerlifting discriminated against Cooper because of her transgender status,” the decision reads.
The dispute dates back to 2018, when USA Powerlifting rejected Cooper’s application.
“At some point, we are going to have to defend the biology and stand on women being a protected class, and it might as well start in Minnesota,” then USA Powerlifting President Larry Maile told the Daily Caller in 2019, when Cooper initially filed the complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
Cooper filed suit in 2021, and a trial court initially sided with him. However, the Minnesota Court of Appeals sent the case back, citing “genuine issues of fact” about whether USA Powerlifting excluded Cooper because of his transgender identity and whether the organization had a “legitimate business reason” for doing so, according to the Associated Press.
Cooper then appealed to the state’s highest court.
“This ruling sends a clear and powerful message: transgender people have a right to enjoy public spaces in Minnesota like sporting events, restaurants, and movie theaters, free from targeted discrimination,” said Jess Braverman, legal director at Gender Justice, which represents Cooper. “This decision is a historic victory for fairness, equity, and the fundamental rights of all Minnesotans.”
Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth said in a statement that the ruling was “another setback in the fight to protect girls sports” and said that GOP lawmakers will try to change the law in the 2026 legislative session.
While the state Supreme Court ruled that USA Powerlifting’s policy is discriminatory, the decision is not a complete victory for Cooper.
The justices sent the case back to trial court to consider whether USA Powerlifting has a defense, based on its claim “that fair competition opportunities for similarly situated athletes is a legitimate business reason, that its interpretation of fair play is based on unique considerations of powerlifting,” along with evidence suggesting so-called transgender “women” may have strength advantages in powerlifting, according to the Associated Press
USA Powerlifting attorney Ansis Viksnins said the ruling means they will get to tell a jury “why excluding a transgender woman from competing in the women’s division was for legitimate reasons, for maintaining fairness in athletics,” the Associated Press reported.
“We are not in the business of speculating on legal outcomes but feel we have a compelling case to make on our inability to provide fair competition for our women athletes if USAPL is forced to include those born with male physiology,” USA Powerlifting attorney Ansis Viksnins said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “There are legitimate business reasons for preserving competition categories based on gender at birth and we look forward to getting another bite at the legal apple.”
Gender Justice did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Safeguarding women’s spaces and opposing gender ideology have emerged as key priorities for President Donald Trump, who in February issued an executive order prohibiting entities that “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities” by allowing men to compete in women’s sports from receiving federal funds.
In September, the Trump administration declared Minnesota and its governing body for high school sports are violating a federal law against sex discrimination by allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
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