Minnesota Supreme Court Rules Ban of Trans-Identifying Male Powerlifter from Women’s Event Is Discrimination

The Minnesota Supreme Court issued a ruling on Wednesday, siding with a male pretending to be a woman who wanted to compete in a women’s powerlifting event.

The state’s high court unanimously ruled that USA Powerlifting discriminated against transgender-identifying athlete JayCee Cooper by not allowing him into the women’s competition in 2018, Fox News reported. All of the justices were appointed by either Democrat Gov. Tim Walz or former Democrat Gov. Mark Dayton. 

Cooper sued USA Powerlifting in 2021, accusing the organization of engaging in discrimination for rejecting his application to compete in the women’s division in 2018. He argued the organization violated the state’s Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination on the basis of “gender identity.” 

“USA Powerlifting’s policy at the time of the decision was to categorically exclude transgender women from competing in the women’s division,” Chief Justice Natalie Hudson wrote for the court.

“Because USA Powerlifting’s facially discriminatory policy provides direct evidence of discriminatory motive, there is no genuine issue of material fact as to whether Cooper’s transgender status actually motivated USA Powerlifting’s decision to prohibit Cooper from competing. We therefore reverse the part of the court of appeals’ decision on this issue,” Hudson continued. 

The ruling was a partial win for Cooper, but the court also sent part of the case back to a lower court to decide if USA Powerlifting has a “legitimate business purpose” for excluding him from the women’s category.

USA Powerlifting has argued that allowing transgender-identifying males to compete against women would put women at a physical disadvantage, according to the report.

USA Powerlifting President Larry Maile said in a statement last year that the organization “created rules that uphold the principles of fair play”  and is not seeking to exclude anyone. To that point, the organization created a division in 2021 for people claiming to be transgender and nonbinary. “

“Since science shows those who were born biologically male have a profound physical advantage over female-born athletes, our responsibility is to define legitimate categories to fairly place athletes within them,” Maile said. 

Attorneys for USA Powerlifting called Wednesday’s decision a partial victory for both sides, per the Independent. USA Powerlifting attorney Ansis Viksnins told the outlets their opponents “like to spin losses as victories and victories as victories, so I’m not surprised that they are claiming this is a victory.” 

Viksnins said the ruling means the organization will get to explain to a jury “why excluding a transgender woman from competing in the women’s division was for legitimate reasons, for maintaining fairness in athletics.” He said they plan to argue that transgender-identifying males have an unfair strength advantage in powerlifting.

Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth called the ruling “another setback in the fight to protect girls’ sports.”

“This issue is ultimately about safety and fairness, and Minnesotans overwhelmingly agree that their daughters and granddaughters should not be forced to compete against boys. House Republicans are ready to act in the first weeks of next year’s legislative session to make clear that girls’ sports are for girls,” she said.