Overview
- USA Powerlifting and JayCee Cooper reached a settlement Tuesday after six years of litigation over her exclusion from women’s competitions.
- Gender Justice said USAPL acknowledged that its exclusionary policies broke the law and agreed to pay a sum, though the terms were not disclosed.
- USAPL said it settled because it had few legal options and will now review how to operate in Minnesota while maintaining its stance on sex-based categories.
- The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in October 2025 that the categorical ban was discriminatory and had left a separate business-purpose defense for trial, which the settlement ends.
- The case unfolded as sports groups reassess eligibility rules for transgender athletes, and USAPL’s 2021 MX Division remains a policy it cites to include transgender and nonbinary lifters.