A Minnesota appeals court has affirmed that banning transgender “women” from competing as a woman in sports is a violation of Minnesota’s left-wing “human rights” statutes.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a ban on a transgender weightlifter implemented by USA Powerlifting (USAPL) would be illegal in the state, KARE-TV reported.
In its ruling, the court sent back a case to a lower court instructing the court to determine if transgender powerlifter JayCee Cooper was banned from competing in the weightlifting organization because he is a man seeking to compete as a transgender woman.
Cooper brought his lawsuit to Minnesota in 2021 and won his case against USAPL last year when a Minn. court ruled in his favor.
In this week’s Appeals Court ruling, the judges determined that USAPL did, indeed, violate the state’s extremely left-wing Human Rights Act but did note that it did not seem exactly clear in the lower court’s case that the organization banned Cooper based solely on the fact that he is a man claiming to be a woman.
New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, the first transgender Olympian, can’t make the lift on his final try in the women’s 87kg weightlifting final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (Wally Skalij /Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“There are genuine issues of material fact as to whether defendant excluded plaintiff from the women’s division of its weightlifting competitions because of her transgender status,” the Appeals Court said as it handed the case back to the lower court.
USAPL put its transgender policy in place in 2019 to provide “a level playing field” for women competing in the sport.
“USA Powerlifting is not a fit for every athlete and for every medical condition or situation,” the organization’s Transgender Participation Policy states. “Simply, not all powerlifters are eligible to compete in USA Powerlifting.”
Barbell deadlift hands, muscular fitness and power of black woman, athlete and bodybuilder in gym, sports workout and exercise. Closeup floor start, healthy muscle training, and heavy challenge lifting. (PeopleImages/Getty Images)
The policy says USA Powerlifting is a “sports organization with rules and policies” that “apply to everyone to provide a level playing field.”
The group described powerlifting as a “sport of strength” rather than a “sport of skill.”
“Men naturally have a larger bone structure, higher bone density, stronger connective tissue, and higher muscle density than women,” the statement said. “These traits, even with reduced levels of testosterone, do not go away. While MTF [male-to-female] may be weaker and less muscle than they once were, the biological benefits given them at birth still remain over than of a female.”
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