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The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that USA Powerlifting’s (USAPL) decision to reject a biological trans male athlete from competing in the women’s division constituted “discrimination.”
USA Powerlifting has now responded by criticizing the court’s decision.
“Our goal since the litigation against USA Powerlifting began in 2021 has been to present all the facts and evidence of our actions to a jury,” the organization said in a statement to OutKick. “We are pleased that both courts of appeal in the state of Minnesota agree that we have the right to present a business discrimination claim to a jury and we look forward to presenting our evidence to that end.”
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The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled on a powerlifting case. (PK Press Club Digital)
USAPL also welcomed the decision to let one of its claims go. The ruling sent part of the case back to a lower court to determine whether USA Powerlifting has a “legitimate business purpose” for excluding the trans athlete.
“Our goal since litigation against USA Powerlifting (USAPL) began in 2021 has been to present all facts and evidence of our actions to a jury,” the organization said. “We are pleased that both courts of appeal in the state of Minnesota agree that we have the right to present a business discrimination claim to a jury and we look forward to presenting our evidence to that end.”
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 the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
After a lower court initially sided with Cooper in 2023, the Minnesota Court of Appeals sent the case back to the lower court, saying there were “genuine questions of fact” about whether USA Powerlifting excluded Cooper because of the athlete’s transgender identity and whether the organization had a “legitimate business reason” for doing so.
The state Supreme Court then decided to take up the case in July 2024.
The court’s ruling said Wednesday that “the policy of USA Powerlifting at the time of the decision was to categorically exclude transgender women from competition in the women’s division.”
“Because USA Powerlifting’s apparently discriminatory policy provides direct evidence of a discriminatory motive, there is no genuine issue of material fact as to whether Cooper’s transgender status actually motivated USA Powerlifting’s decision to bar Cooper from competing. We therefore reverse that portion of the appeals court’s decision on this issue,” wrote Chief Judge Natalie Hudson in Wednesday’s Opinion.
“We agree with Cooper that USA Powerlifting’s policy is discriminatory on its face; therefore, there is no real dispute that USA Powerlifting discriminated against Cooper based on his transgender status.”
USAPL claims it acted for “legitimate reasons.”
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USAPL acted for legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons to promote fairness in sports by determining that Ms. Cooper should not compete in the women’s division due to her masculine physiology,” the USAPL statement continued.
“Ms. Cooper was born biologically male and experienced puberty as a man. According to undisproven scientific research, men have up to a 64% advantage in strength in powerlifting and suppressing testosterone only reduces that advantage by about 10%. This difference in results makes it fundamentally unfair for a male-to-female transgender powerlifter to compete in the women’s division.”
USAPL also pointed to data suggesting that most Americans support protecting women’s sports from trans athletes and the fact that the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) updated its athlete safety policy to only allow women to play women’s sports.
“A 2025 New York Times/Ipsos poll found that 79% of Americans oppose allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports,” the organization noted. “Since the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments in our case, the U.S. Olympic Committee has banned transgender female athletes from competing in women’s events, and the United Kingdom Supreme Court has ruled that the term ‘female’ applies to biological females.”
The court’s decision was unanimous. Five of the seven Minnesota Supreme Court justices were appointed by the Democratic governor. Tim Walzand the other two were appointed by former Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton.
Minnesota Republicans condemned the court’s decision.
Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz speaks during a mobilization rally October 22, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Minnesota Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth released a statement denouncing the decision.
“For decades, women and girls have fought tirelessly for the rights guaranteed by Title IX. Unfortunately, these hard-won protections are increasingly under attack, and today’s decision marks another setback in the fight to protect women’s sports,” Demuth said.
“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.”
