After losing a discrimination case, USA Powerlifting will now allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s competitions.
JayCee Cooper, a trans athlete, won her case against the federation last week after she was banned from competing against biological women.
With Cooper’s victory comes a mandate that the federation «cease and desist all unfair discriminatory practices» based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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The stage in the men’s middleweight powerlifting event during the 2022 World Games July 9, 2022, at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Concert Hall in Birmingham, Alabama. (Kevin Langley/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The decision angered female-born powerlifters, one of whom spoke about the case on «Tucker Carlson Tonight» on Wednesday.
«We are outraged. We are angry. We are hurt. We are offended. Basically, we have every emotion except happiness,» Canadian weightlifter April Hutchinson told Fox News Channel.
Hutchinson said the athletes feared backlash for speaking out against the male-born competing in their competitions, but Hutchinson isn’t afraid to speak up and has garnered support from her competitors.
«There were times where I couldn’t sleep at night. I’ve been fighting this for about two years,» Hutchinson explained. “Women are coming out… saying, ‘Thank you so much for standing up for women in sports.’
«Many women are silenced and feel silenced and voiceless, or afraid to speak out for fear of being kicked out of the federation, insulted by backlash. But no, we’re growing stronger and stronger, and the amount of support is overwhelming, actually.»
A stack of weights in the warm-up room in the men’s middleweight powerlifting event at the 2022 World Games July 9, 2022, at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Concert Hall in Birmingham, Ala. (Kevin Langley/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Cooper filed a complaint in 2019 with the Minnesota Department of Human Rightsalleging that the organization violated the state’s Human Rights Law by prohibiting her and other trans athletes from competing in women’s competitions.
she then filed a lawsuit v. USA Powerlifting in state court in 2021.
«I was fed up with the way they treated me. I was fed up with the way they treated my community, and enough is enough,» Cooper told KARE-TV.
«I’m mostly relieved. I think we needed a win here, and it feels good to get that.»
“Our position has been aimed at balancing the needs of cis and transgender women whose abilities differ significantly in pure strength sports,” USA Powerlifting President Larry Maile said in a statement.
USA Powerlifting must allow trans athletes to compete in women’s competitions. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
However, the court cited «an increased risk of depression and suicide, lack of access to training and practice facilities, or other suppression of performance common to transgender individuals,» as competitive disadvantages for transgender competitors.
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According to Open Powerlifting, Cooper last competed in the 2022 AMP Classic Open Nationals in Texaswhere he finished in third place out of three competitors in his division.
Cooper competed twice against a lone competitor, Rebecca Richnofsky, in the open women’s raw 198+ category in 2019, winning both times. At the 2019 USPA National Championships, she finished fourth out of four competitors in that category.