USA Powerlifting Federation Prepares To Defend Transgender Athlete Policy In Court
Rachel Stoltzfoos | Staff Reporter
USA Powerlifting is facing a discrimination complaint in Minnesota over its transgender athlete policy after it said JayCee Cooper, a biological man, couldnt compete in womens events. The federations president told The Daily Caller its prepared to go to court to keep the policy in place, and framed the policy as protecting the federal rights of women.
“At some point, we are going to have to defend the biology and stand on women being a protected class, and it might as well start in Minnesota,” Larry Maile, USA Powerlifting president, told the Caller. The policy is not new, but the federation commissioned a group of experts to find out if its backed by science earlier this year, after the dispute with Cooper thrust them into the media spotlight late last year. The results were clear: Its unfair to allow biological men to compete with women.
A Minnesota legal nonprofit, Gender Justice, filed the complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights last week on behalf of Cooper, asserting the policy illegally discriminates against people on the basis of gender identity. Sexual orientation is a protected class in Minnesota. (RELATED: The Real Story Behind USA Powerliftings Transgender Athlete Policy)
“Like other athletes, [Cooper] worked to ensure that she met the stated policies for competition, and went above and beyond by addressing any potential questions about her gender identity, only to have USA Powerlifting respond with a new, retroactive blanket ban on transgender athletes,” Gender Justice said in a statement announcing the filing.
JayCee Cooper YouTube/Public/Vice HBO
The policy was not public prior to the dispute with Cooper. But USA Powerlifting says it has turned five people away for transition-related reasons since 2015, when the International Olympic Committee released guidelines on transgender athletes. Maile also took issue with the characterization of the policy as a “blanket ban” and accused the group of using “propaganda language” by framing the complaint as a “charge” against the federation.
“Gender Justice says we have been charged,” he said. “That is propaganda language. You are charged in a criminal complaint. Not only is that not the case, but they have filed a complaint with the human rights commission, and we get to answer it. If the commission rushes to judgment, we will litigate it for denial of due process.”
The federation allows transgender athletes to compete with their biological sex under the policy, so long as they do not use testosterone. Biological men cannot compete with women under any circumstances, and biological women who use testosterone cannot compete with men or women, because the federation is premised on drug-free competition. (RELATED: Liberals Abandon Science In Transgender Athlete Debate)
“To allow those born and who went through puberty as males to compete as females would be inherently discriminatory against a federally protected class: women,” Maile said in a prepared statement obtained by the Caller. “Further, allowing transgender males to use androgens when no other category of athlete is allowed them represents and unfair advantage of these individuals over those born as men and who are not allowed such use.”
YouTube/Public/ABC News — “Transgender track stars speak out as critics allege unfair advantage”
The federation addressed the question of discrimination earlier this year on its website, saying the transgender policy is not rooted in hate, but in a desire for fair play that makes some form of discrimination necessary to any sport. The full paragraph reads:
Why are you discriminatory towards transgender athletes?
A – While the term discrimination is used to catch the attention of the public, it is most often misused. We are a sports organization with rules and policies. They apply to everyone to provide a level playing field. We have restriction such as age eligibility, who can compete as at our national events and so on. No, you are not discriminated against because you are a 40-year-old college student that is not allowed to compete at Collegiate Nationals. No, we are not discriminating against your 7-year-old daughter by not letting her compete. It is simply the rules of this sport that all must be follow if we are to be fair playing field. Another example, males are not allowed to use testosterone and to do so provides him an advantage. A master aged male cannot raise his natural testosterone level. Physicians frequently prescribe levels of androgens that are consistent with much younger men than the age of the patient. USA Powerlifting is not discriminating against master lifters who use testosterone for medical reasons. They may just not compete on our platform based on thRead More – Source[contf]
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