Last week, a state court in Minnesota ruled that USA Powerlifting must allow Jaycee Cooper, a biological male who identifies as a transgender woman, to compete in the female division in USAPL competitions. Readers of this site can probably guess my general opinions on this ruling – transgenderism and trans-identifying athletes are just one of the issues that I and my talented colleagues at The Daily Wire report on every day. But this case is deeply personal to me because I’m a competitive powerlifter myself.
The story behind Jaycee Cooper’s case is familiar. According to openpowerlifting.com, Cooper competed as a female in the 2019 USPA National Championships. USPA is a different federation with different rules, which allow trans-identifying lifters. Cooper competed in the 198+ weight class, essentially the women’s super heavyweight, weighing 289 pounds; he placed 4th, with a squat/bench/deadlift total of 936.9 pounds. If Cooper had competed as a man, he would have been in the men’s 308 weight class, and would have placed 6th; but he would have lifted 600 pounds less than the 5th place lifter. He likely wouldn’t have even qualified: to qualify for USPA National competition, you need a Class II total; a Class II total for the men’s 308 is 1322.8, 400 pounds above Cooper’s recorded best. It’s the same old song and dance: an athlete who can’t hack it with biological men identifies as a trans woman, then dominates the competition.
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