Gender Justice and JayCee Cooper Fight to #LiftUpTransRights
January 12, 2021 (New York, NY) — Today, Gender Justice announced the filing of a formal complaint against USA Powerlifting for discriminating against transgender athlete and Athlete Ally Ambassador JayCee Cooper by banning her and other transgender athletes from competition.
Today’s action follows Gender Justice’s 2019 filing of charges with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which stated that USA Powerlifting violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act by banning Cooper, and all other trans athletes, from competing. On behalf of Cooper, Gender Justice is seeking protection from discrimination, and a clear, fair standard that allows trans athletes to compete according to their gender identity.
“Trans athletes across the country deserve the same rights and protections as everyone else, and we deserve equitable opportunities to compete in the sports we love,” said JayCee Cooper, Gender Justice client. “I jumped through every hoop, cleared every hurdle to be able to compete with USA Powerlifting, but was met with a retroactive ban on trans athletes. With Gender Justice on my side, I’m going to fight as hard as I can to ensure that every trans athlete has the opportunity to compete, and be recognized with full dignity and humanity.”
“Athlete Ally is proud to support JayCee Cooper and Gender Justice in this fight for transgender athletes to be treated fairly, and with dignity and compassion,” said Anne Lieberman, Director of Policy and Programs at Athlete Ally. “Transgender women are not a threat to women’s sport. Athletes at highest level of sport – from Megan Rapinoe to Candace Parker and beyond — have spoken out time and time again to say that transgender athletes deserve full access and opportunity to participate in the sport they love. Today, that call is amplified by the many voices of support for JayCee, who we are proud to call an Athlete Ally Ambassador.”
Please see below a video from Team USA’s Chris Mosier, NFL players Johnny Stanton and Chris Kluwe, and former USWNT player Lori Lindsey in support of JayCee: