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12/03 13:42 CST Transgender powerlifter asks Minnesota Supreme Court to let her
compete in women's events
Transgender powerlifter asks Minnesota Supreme Court to let her compete in
women's events
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) --- A transgender athlete should be allowed to compete in
the women's division at powerlifting events because she's protected against
discrimination by the Minnesota Human Rights Act, her attorneys urged the state
Supreme Court on Tuesday.
USA Powerlifting rejected JayCee Cooper's application in 2018 to compete in the
women's division of its events on the ground that she enjoys strength
advantages over other women. Cooper sued in 2021, and the trial court sided
with her.
But the Minnesota Court of Appeals sent the case back to the trial court in
March, saying there were "genuine issues of fact" about whether USA
Powerlifting excluded Cooper because of her transgender identity and whether
the organization had a "legitimate business reason" for rejecting her. Cooper
then took the case to the state's highest court.
Cooper's attorney, Christy Hall, said USA Powerlifting's policy discriminates
against all transgender women, regardless of their individual physical
capabilities, and urged the justices to reverse the Court of Appeals decision.
"It holds that stereotypes about people's bodies as a group may legitimately be
used to discriminate against individuals," Hall said. "For example, you could
use the exact same logic to say women can't be firefighters because
firefighters need to be strong and women as a group aren't as strong as men."
Ansis Viksnins, an attorney for USA Powerlifting, argued that the law requires
courts to answer the question of whether a defendant had a discriminatory
motive, not just whether the action was discriminatory. He said the Court of
Appeals was right to send the case back to the trial court to determine whether
the sports group had a legitimate reason for barring Cooper from competing in
its women's division.
"I would suggest there would be a serious, chilling effect on women's sports"
if Cooper's arguments prevail, Viksnins saoid.
Transgender people's participation in sports has been a contentious issue
across the country and was a hot topic in the fall elections. Republican Donald
Trump put his opposition front and center in his presidential campaign. The
LGBTQ-rights movement regarded Trump's election as one of its biggest setbacks
in its history.
At least 24 states have laws on the books barring transgender women and girls
from competing in certain women's or girls sports competitions. And the U.S.
Supreme Court on Wednesday will take up the issue of gender-affirming care for
transgender minors, which has been banned by Tennessee and 25 other
Republican-led states.
In an indication of the intense interest in the Minnesota case, numerous
athletes and organizations on both sides filed friend-of-the-court briefs,
including former tennis champion Martina Navratilova, who was part of a group
of 83 female athletes backing USA Powerlifting's position. One of the
organizations backing Cooper is the locally based LGBTQ+ rights group Gender
Justice.
The Minnesota Human Rights Act contains broad protections against
discrimination, including on the basis of sex defined broadly, and was updated
last year to specifically include gender identity.
"The widespread support for Cooper and trans inclusion in sports only
underscores that discrimination has no place in sports or society," Jess
Braverman, legal director at Gender Justice, said in a statement before oral
arguments in the case. "No one should be denied the opportunity to pursue their
dreams and ambitions simply because of who they are."
USA Powerlifting argued in its brief that female transgender powerlifters have
a significant advantage in a sport that relies on inherently on strength. The
group noted that Cooper could compete in an open division it created in 2021 to
serve all gender identities.
"If male-born powerlifters can compete against female-born athletes, we have
not only failed in our responsibility to provide fair competition for our women
competitors, but we have thrown the door wide open to eliminating other
category distinctions such as age and weight," USA Powerlifting President Larry
Maile said in a statement.
The justices took the case under advisement and did not say when they would
rule. Since the legal arguments were based largely on how the courts should
interpret Minnesota law, the eventual decision won't set a binding precedent
for other states. But courts elsewhere faced with similar issues could choose
to draw on the legal reasoning behind it.
