MN Court of Appeals sends transgender powerlifter's case back to Ramsey County District Court

A USAPL medical doctor emailed Cooper, informing her that she was ineligible to compete. The emailed explanation read “male-to-female transgenders are not allowed to compete as females in our static strength sport as it is a direct competitive advantage,” the lawsuit states.

At the time, USAPL had no express policy regarding participation in competition by transgender athletes, according to the lawsuit. USAPL revoked Cooper’s competition card, and later issued a formal policy banning all transgender women from participating in its competitions, according to the lawsuit.

USA Powerlifting contends it did not exclude Cooper because she is transgender. The organization had argued to the appellate court that it excluded Cooper from the women’s division of its competition for a non-discriminatory reason: that she has male physiology, which gives her “unmitigated strength advantages that would compromise principles of fair athletic competition.”

After last year’s lower court ruling, USAPL submitted a proposed policy in April 2023 that would allow a transgender woman to compete in USAPL’s women’s division if she declared her gender to be female, had conforming government identification and maintained a testosterone level below a certain numerical level, according to Monday’s opinion.

The district court held a hearing on USAPL’s proposed policy on April 11, 2023 and Diamond ruled from the bench that the proposed policy does not comply with the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Diamond said at the time that USAPL “is enjoined from holding any events in the state of Minnesota, competitive or otherwise” and “is similarly enjoined . . . from selling memberships to identified residents of the state of Minnesota” until USAPL submits a proposed policy that complies with the MHRA.

Jess Braverman, legal director for Gender Justice, said in a Monday statement they believe it is “crystal clear” that Cooper was not allowed to compete because of her sexual orientation, “and we are confident that the courts will ultimately agree.”

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