Responding to today’s news that the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled USA Powerlifting “discriminated” against a transgender athlete by maintaining sex-based competition categories, the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) released the following statement:
“The Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling that USA Powerlifting ‘discriminated’ by maintaining sex-based divisions is deeply disappointing and poses a serious threat to the future of women’s sports in Minnesota.
The Upper Midwest Law Center, alongside the Independent Women’s Forum, proudly filed an amicus brief in this case to defend USA Powerlifting’s common-sense position that women’s sports must remain for women. This is not a question of ideology—it’s a question of fairness and safety.
Biological males have undeniable physical advantages that make competition inherently unequal. Allowing men to compete in women’s sports erases decades of progress under Title IX and endangers female athletes. As Independent Women’s Forum ambassador Payton McNabb’s story makes painfully clear, forcing women and girls to compete against men can have devastating and lasting consequences.
While the Court’s decision finds USA Powerlifting’s policy ‘discriminatory,’ it also leaves open an important question—whether the organization’s policy has a legitimate business purpose, including the protection of fairness and safety. We believe it clearly does.“
