After a judge sided with athlete JayCee Cooper, who sued USA Powerlifting for discrimination after being prohibited from competing in women’s events, transgender women can now compete in the sport.
By next Monday, two weeks after the initial verdict, USA Powerlifting will have to update its current transgender women’s participation rules. USA Powerlifting has not responded to BreezyScroll’s request for a statement.
“The harm is in making a person pretend to be something different, the implicit message being that who they are is less than,” wrote Judge Patrick C. Diamond in the ruling.
Additionally, the judge noted that USAPL focused on the notion of “fairness” in its decision to exclude trans women from the competition by noting an unfair advantage.
“The USAPL’s evidence of competitive advantage does not take into account any competitive disadvantage a transgender athlete might face from, for example, increased risk of depression and suicide, lack of access to coaching and practice facilities, or other performance suppression common to transgender persons.”
JayCee Cooper shared a graphic with the phrase, “We won!”
After Cooper’s participation in USA Powerlifting contests was refused on the grounds of her gender identity, the issue was initially brought before Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, in January 2021. Following this, the USAPL implemented a rule excluding all transgender women from participating in its events.
On February 27, a judge decided that USA Powerlifting had discriminated against Cooper and ruled in her favor.
In response to the verdict, Cooper shared a graphic on Instagram with the phrase, “We won!” She also included a link in her bio that goes to a statement from Gender Justice, a Minnesota-based nonprofit that campaigns for gender equality in the United States.
“Trans athletes across the country deserve the same rights and protections as everyone else, and we deserve equitable opportunities to compete in the sports we love,” Cooper said in the Gender Justice statement.
“I am thrilled that this ruling recognizes our rights and our humanity and hopefully opens doors for transgender athletes everywhere to participate fully in sports,” she added.
There was an outpouring of support on social media for Cooper, with one user writing, “This is so huge. I can’t imagine how exhausting it was to go to battle for this, but this fight is so important. Thank you.”
Gender Justice also tweeted their support for Cooper, calling her “courageous and strong” and “victorious.”
