Minnesota Supreme Court rules ban of trans powerlifter from women's event was discrimination

A former Minnesota high school girls softball player opened up about losing to a transgender pitcher in the state tournament and how the declining safety of the state has caused her and her family fear.

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that USA Powerlifting discriminated against a biological male transgender athlete by not allowing that athlete into a women's competition in 2018. 

The court's decision was unanimous. Five of the seven Minnesota Supreme Court justices were appointed by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, and the other two were appointed by former Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. 

The trans athlete, JayCee Cooper, sued USA Powerlifting in 2021, alleging the organization engaged in discriminatory practices after rejecting the athlete's application to compete in the women's division in 2018, arguing it violated Minnesota's Human Rights Act.

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The court's ruling said "USA Powerlifting's policy at the time of the decision was to categorically exclude transgender women from competing in the women's division."

"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," Chief Justice Natalie Hudson wrote in Wednesday’s opinion.

"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."

However, the ruling also sent part of the case back