Trans Powerlifter's Discrimination Lawsuit Reaches Minnesota Supreme Court

An ongoing discrimination lawsuit brought on by a transgender powerlifter has made it to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

JayCee Cooper — a trans-identifying male athlete — sued USA Powerlifting in 2021 after being rejected from the women's team three years earlier. In the complaint, Cooper alleged that the organization violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

"It's just basic discrimination law that you can't pick out people based on who they are, based on averages, generalizations and stereotypes about what their bodies are like," Jess Braverman, one of Cooper's attorneys, said. "That's true for cis-gendered women, it's true for transgender women, and we want to make sure that law is enforced."

In 2023, a Ramsey County District Court judge agreed and ruled in favor of Cooper. That ruling led to a mandate that the federation must "cease and desist from all unfair discriminatory practices" on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

USAPL appealed, and earlier this year, the Minnesota Court of Appeals partially overturned that ruling. Then, Cooper counter-appealed — sending the case to the state's highest court.

"What the Minnesota Court of Appeals said is that Minnesota does prohibit discrimination against transgender people, but that they were not sure whether that’s what happened here," Braverman explained. "They were not sure whether what USAPL did constitutes discrimination."

USAPL President Larry Maile said the organization's policy was not discriminatory, arguing Cooper would have a physical advantage in the women's category.

"We ensure fair competition for our athletes by banning performance-enhancing drugs and establishing competition categories grounded in science — including age, weight and sex," Maile