Minnesota’s highest court has sided with a transgender weightlifter embroiled in a legal battle over her exclusion from her sport. However, the matter is far from resolved.

In 2021, JayCee Cooper initiated a lawsuit against USA Powerlifting after being denied entry into a 2018 competition, with the organization citing perceived strength advantages over her female peers as the reason for her exclusion.

This week, the Minnesota Supreme Court handed Cooper a partial victory by ruling that the policy preventing her from competing in the women’s division is “facially discriminatory” according to the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Nevertheless, the court has remanded the case back to a lower jurisdiction to determine if USA Powerlifting’s decision was based on a “legitimate business purpose.”

Gender Justice, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group representing Cooper, celebrated the ruling as a triumph. They highlighted that Cooper’s claim of discrimination in public accommodations under state law was upheld.

“This aspect of the claim remains intact,” stated Jess Braverman, legal counsel for Gender Justice.

However, the justices noted that the law carves out a ‘legitimate business purpose defense,’ and said there is a ‘genuine dispute of material fact’ on whether ‘seeking to ensure competitive fairness in an athletic competition’ meets that test. 

USA Powerlifting attorney Ansis Viksnins called the ruling a mixed decision – a partial victory for both sides.

Minnesota’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of JayCee Cooper (pictured) a transgender weightlifter who sued her sport for excluding her – but the case is still ongoing

‘Our opponents like to spin losses as victories and victories and victories, so I’m not surprised that they are claiming this is a victory,’ Viksnins told the Associated Press. 

He said the ruling means they will get to tell a jury ‘why excluding a transgender woman from competing in the women’s division was for legitimate reasons, for maintaining fairness in athletics.’ 

Viksnins added that they will be able to table their argument that transgender women have an unfair strength advantage in powerlifting.

Pictured: Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson

However, to win on the remaining issue, Braverman said the courts would have to do so on an impossibly narrow track. 

She said the court left only a ‘really narrow carve-out’ that doesn’t leave much room for discrimination.

USA Powerlifting rejected Cooper’s application in 2018 to compete in its women’s division. Cooper sued in 2021, and the trial court sided with her.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals sent the case back to the trial court, saying there were ‘genuine issues of fact’ about whether USA Powerlifting excluded Cooper because of her transgender identity and whether the organization had a ‘legitimate business reason’ for doing so. 

Cooper then took the case to the state’s highest court. 

JayCee Cooper sued USA Powerlifting in 2021 for rejecting her for a 2018 competition on the grounds that she enjoys strength advantages over other women

The justices ordered that the trial court must now address whether USA Powerlifting has a defense, based on its claim ‘that fair competition opportunities for similarly situated athletes is a legitimate business reason’. 

The court added that ‘its interpretation of fair play is based on unique considerations of powerlifting,’ and on evidence the group says shows that transgender women powerlifters enjoy strength advantages.

Transgender people’s participation in sports has been a contentious issue across the country. 

According to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that says it works to advance equality and opportunity for all, 29 states bar transgender women and girls from competing in at least some women’s or girls competitions, though some of those bans have been blocked by court orders.

Late last month, President Donald Trump’s administration said the state of Minnesota and its governing body for high school sports are violating a key federal law against sex discrimination by allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports.

The Minnesota Human Rights Act contains broad protections against discrimination, including on the basis of sex defined broadly, and was updated in 2023 when Democrats controlled the Legislature to specifically include gender identity.

Republican Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth called the ruling ‘another setback in the fight to protect girls sports,’ and said in a statement that GOP lawmakers will try to change the law in the 2026 legislative session. 

The North Star State’s ruling on Wednesday delivered a partial win to Cooper, by finding the policy which bars Cooper from competing in the women’s division as ‘facially discriminatory’ 

The high court also sent Cooper’s case back to a lower court to weigh in on whether USA Powerlifting had a ‘legitimate business purpose’ for rejecting her 

However, the House is now tied 67-67 between Republicans and Democrats, and Democrats only narrowly control the Senate, so nothing can pass without some bipartisan support.

In an indication of the intense interest in the Minnesota case, numerous athletes and organizations on both sides filed friend-of-the-court briefs, including former tennis champion Martina Navratilova, who was part of a group of 83 female athletes backing USA Powerlifting’s position.

Since the legal arguments were based largely on how the courts should interpret Minnesota law, the decision doesn’t set a binding precedent for other states. 

But courts elsewhere faced with similar issues could choose to draw on the legal reasoning behind it.

Asked Wednesday if Cooper plans to continue competing with USA Powerlifting, Braverman hedged, noting that seven years have passed since Cooper had last sought to compete in the organization.