Minnesota Supreme Court rules USA Powerlifting's ban on trans women is discriminationhttps://www.advocate.com/news/minnesota-supreme-court-transgender-sports 🔗Ryan Adamczeski (23 Oct 2025)
The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that USA Powerlifting discriminated against a transgender woman by banning her from women's competitions.
The court determined in an opinion issued Wednesday that preventing JayCee Cooper from competing in women's categories constitutes unlawful discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Chief Justice Natalie Hudson wrote that USAPL is "not permitted to deny Cooper the full and equal enjoyment of its place of public accommodation because of her transgender status nor engage in business discrimination as to Cooper because of her transgender status."
"USA Powerlifting's policy expressly prohibiting transgender women from competing in the women's division of a powerlifting competition is facially discriminatory and constitutes direct evidence of discrimination based on sexual orientation under the MHRA's prohibition against discrimination in business and places of public accommodation," the opinion states.
