Trans athlete JayCee Cooper, USA Powerlifting settle discrimination case

After eight years of acrimony fought as much in courtrooms as lifting platforms, Minnesota trans powerlifter JayCee Cooper’s anti-discrimination case against USA Powerlifting ended in a settlement Monday after the Minnesota Supreme Court found the governing body in violation of the state’s Human Rights Act last October.

This outcome is the second supporting trans athletes in the state in the last month. On April 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected attempts to change the inclusive policies of the Minnesota State High School League.

Attorneys for Cooper lauded the ruling and settlement, also citing both cases as examples of how the fight against discrimination continues.

“We celebrate this victory, but we also remain vigilant and ready to take action to ensure that all Minnesotans, including transgender Minnesotans, can participate in sports, schools, employment and health care without facing discrimination because of who they are,” Gender Justice Legal Director Jess Braverman stated.

The settlement closes the book on a battle that began in 2018 when Cooper entered a USA Powerlifting event in Minnesota, and her entry was denied. Two months after filing the entry, the governing body enacted a ban on trans women competing in women’s powerlifting events.

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In response, Cooper raised her voice and in a movement grew around her within the sport and outside of it. She also filed a complaint to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in June 2019.

“I’m forced into this activist role,” Cooper told Outsports in November 2019. “The same as every restriction that I face as a trans person. I want to use my voice because I’m affected daily by this exclusion.”

In 2021, Cooper filed the lawsuit that was first step to Monday’s outcome. After winning in a county court in Minnesota 2023, the fight advanced to the Minnesota Supreme Court the following year and ended with a ruling citing USA Powerlifting actions as illegal on October 23, 2025.

USA Powerlifting, by the settlement, must publicly state that their exclusionary policy broke state law, in addition to a set of terms that were not publicly disclosed.

This outcome also represents the latest loss in what has been a five-year losing streak for the governing body against Cooper. Not only has the governing body lost in court, after the initial suit was filed in 2021, the world governing body for the sport kicked USA Powerlifting out of the organization and removed its status as the sport’s national governing body in the U.S.

Larry Maile, the head of USA Powerlifting, put a terse statement decrying the ruling.

“What the plaintiffs cast as a victory for transgender rights is a ruling that has forced Minnesota to take a step backward for women, fair competition and common sense,” Maile said in statement to WCCO. “We continue to believe strongly in the merits of our case, which are supported by global competition standards and bipartisan public sentiment.

“But left with few legal options, settlement is in the best interests of the organization.”

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