Trans Powerlifter JayCee Cooper Reaches Settlement With USA Powerlifting

“I don’t want anyone to experience what I and other trans athletes have and continue to experience: having our basic human dignity questioned and opportunities denied because we are trans,” Cooper said in a 2021 livestream announcing the lawsuit “We all benefit when sports are as inclusive as possible, when we organize around our shared humanity and collective empowerment.”

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in Cooper’s favor in October, determining in a 35-page ruling that USA Powerlifting’s policy of categorically excluding transgender women from the women's division constituted discrimination in public accommodations and violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Exact details of the settlement were not disclosed, per CBS News.

In a statement, USA Powerlifting said that it “has made no decision yet on next steps in its Minnesota operations” and that leadership would be reviewing the matter in the coming weeks.

Cooper’s victory comes just over a month after the International Olympics Committee ruled to ban all trans women from competing in Olympics Events ahead of the 2028 games in Los Angeles. The new policy requires athletes to be tested for the sex-determining region Y gene in order to maintain eligibility for women’s Olympic qualifiers and events. The decision prompted an outcry from several prominent LGBTQ+ athletes. Multiple athletic leagues have issued similar exclusionary policies during the second Trump administration in seeming compliance with a February 2025 executive order that seeks to ban trans women from women’s sports.

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Originally Appeared on them.