Minnesota Supreme Court hears discrimination lawsuit brought by transgender athlete
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Supreme Court heard Tuesday the case of a transgender woman who was rejected from entering the women's division of the USA Powerlifting championships competition.
The lawsuit alleges USA Powerlifting discriminated against Jaycee Cooper when they denied her entry to two competitions in 2018.
"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," said Jess Braverman, one of Cooper's attorneys from Gender Justice. "That's true for cis-gendered women, it's true for transgender women, and we want to make sure that law is enforced."
Gender Justice maintains the policies of USA Powerlifting violate Minnesota's Human Rights Act.
"Unfortunately, USA Powerlifting chose a different path. One that excludes transgender athletes, denying them their humanity, and violates the Minnesota laws that protect them against discrimination," said State Sen. Erin Maye Quade, special projects advisor for Gender Justice.
USA Powerlifting President Larry Maile maintains his organization's position, saying its actions were not discriminatory, and Cooper would have an unfair physical advantage because she was born male.
"We welcome all kinds of people to come in, but at the expense of other people, and that's the crux of the issue," Maile said. "We take no position on pronouns and people's names. We invite people to be who they want to be as long as we can preserve fairness for all of our categories of competitors."
To support trans athletes, Maile says his organization created an open MX division in 2021 to serve all gender identities, including transgender and nonbinary members. Representatives with Gender Justice say the added division doesn't solve the problem of the exclusion of transgender women.
"Inclusion of women is not just some women. It's all women. And trans women are women, hard stop," said Traci Slane, a coach at Minneapolis' Solcana Fitness.
Braverman and representatives from Gender Justice said they're awaiting the Minnesota Supreme Court's ruling, which could come down at any point.
"This case isn't just important for Jaycee, it's not just important for trans athletes, it's important for all of us to make sure there's no discrimination in Minnesota," Braverman said.
