USA Powerlifting, once in trans athlete lawsuit, supports SCOTUS ruling: 'Law has caught up with the science'

USA Powerlifting “welcomed” the Supreme Court’s ruling that upholds state laws regarding transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.

The Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, in favor of the states that were sued by biological males to gain access to girls’ sports.

USA Powerlifting had found itself embroiled in the battle when it was sued in 2021 by trans lifter JayCee Cooper after Cooper was rejected from the women’s team three years earlier.

And after Tuesday’s historic ruling, it breathed a sigh of relief.

“The highest court in the land has affirmed what we’ve argued for six years: protecting women’s sports is common sense and not discrimination,” USAPL past president Larry Maile said in a release. “The law has caught up with the science and now Minnesota is even more of a legal outlier. It is out of step with the U.S. Supreme Court, overwhelming public opinion and international sport governing organizations.”

A district court ruled in 2023 that the organization discriminated against Cooper, but after an appeal and then a cross-appeal by Cooper, the Minnesota Court of Appeals eventually decided that Cooper was not discriminated against.

Close up of a barbell laying on the floor in an empty gym

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The federation opened an “open” category in 2021 “to serve all gender identities,” according to Fox 9 in Minnesota.

The states were backed by the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), while the trans athletes were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Cooley Legal.

Now, more than half of the states in the U.S. are empowered to enforce protections for women’s sports without fear of a legal challenge.

However, there are still 23 states that don’t have any such laws, and some of those states have laws to protect trans athletes in girls’ sports.

President Donald Trump continuously threatened to halt federal funding to states that did not abide by his executive order. Trump froze funds to Maine, but a federal judge ruled that the funds had to be restored. But now, those states are protected by law.