ESPN’s Sage Steele slams decision to let trans women compete in USA Powerlifting

ESPN host Sage Steele has criticized the decision to allow transgender athletes to compete in the women’s division of US Powerlifting after the sports body lost a four-year discrimination case brought by a trans lifter.

Steele called the decision “unfair to women” and noted it was “ironic” that it was made during Women’s History Month, which began on March 1.

‘Unfair to women. And the irony that this decision was made during Women’s History Month…’ Steele tweeted. The hypocrisy continues.

His comments came after USA Powerlifting lost a court battle in which a judge ruled it had discriminated against JayCee Cooper, a transgender woman, by barring her from competing in women’s competitions.

The issue has divided the US in recent years, with critics saying transgender athletes have an advantage over cisgender women in competition.

Steele called the decision “unfair to women” and noted it was “ironic” that it was made during women’s history month, which began on March 1.

His comments came after USA Powerlifting lost a court battle in which a judge ruled it had discriminated against JayCee Cooper (pictured), a transgender woman, by barring her from competing in women’s competitions.

Eighteen states have passed laws prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in women’s school sports; a federal judge ruled in January that West Virginia’s ban is constitutional and can remain in effect.

Cooper first filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in 2019, claiming that the organization prohibited her from participating as a woman.

In 2021, Cooper filed an official lawsuit against USA Powerlifting in state court, accusing the organization of discrimination.

This week, the organization was told that ‘cease and desist from all unfair and discriminatory practices’ related to sexual orientation and gender identity, according to court ruling. USA Powerlifting now has two weeks to reverse its previous policy.

“The harm is in making a person pretend to be something different, with the implicit message that he is less than what he is. That is the very essence of separation and segregation, and it is what the MHRA prohibits,’ the ruling states.

USA Powerlifting has already expressed interest in appealing the decision, which was issued on Monday.

President Larry Maile told KARE in Minneapolis that his organization disagrees with the court’s decision and will explore its options.

‘We have received a summary judgment decision from the Court finding us liable for discrimination. We respectfully disagree with the Court’s conclusions. We are considering all of our options, including appeal,” Maile said.

“Our position has been aimed at balancing the needs of cis and transgender women, whose abilities differ significantly in pure strength sports,” Maile continued.

Cooper’s lawsuit was filed in conjunction with Gender Justice, a Minnesota-based advocacy group, in January 2021 after she said she was “fed up” with how she and other trans athletes were being treated.

In 2021, Cooper (pictured lifting weights) filed an official lawsuit against USA Powerlifting in state court, accusing the organization of discrimination.

Cooper (pictured) first filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in 2019, claiming that the organization prohibited her from participating as a woman.

‘I was fed up with the way they treated me; I was fed up with the way my community was being treated, and enough is enough,” Cooper said. kare-TELEVISION.

She described to the Minnesota television station her feelings of relief now that a court has ruled in her favor.

“I’m mostly relieved,” Cooper said after Monday’s ruling. “I think we needed a win here, and it feels good to get that.”

Despite his win, Cooper says he has “complex feelings” about the sport after their years-long battle.

“After years of experiencing discrimination from US Powerlifting and the backlash that ensued because of it, of course I have complex feelings about the sport,” Cooper said.

‘But I think this victory – [it] it is a representation of where we can move forward’, he continued in his interview with KARE-TV.

In the United States, the conversation about transgender athletes in women’s sports has become a highly controversial topic.

Just last month, an appeals court reinstated a challenge to Connecticut’s transgender athlete policy that allows trans girls to participate in women’s sports in high school.

That ruling went against a decision issued by a three-judge panel.

Cooper recently won his discrimination case against USA Powerlifting

In January, former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and some two dozen protesters outside the NCAA convention protested the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports and threatened the association with legal action if it doesn’t change its policies.

Gaines competed in last year’s NCAA swimming and diving championships against Penn’s Lia Thomas, who became the first transgender woman to win a national title. She also placed fifth in the 200-meter freestyle, tying Gaines.

“Today, we intend to personally tell the NCAA to stop discriminating against female athletes by delivering a petition that we’ve gotten nearly 10,000 signatures on in just a couple of days,” Gaines said at the time.

The NCAA has allowed transgender athletes to compete since 2010.

In the US, 18 states have passed laws Ban on women or transgender girls in sports.

Proponents of the bans argue that transgender women, people biologically born male and later transitioned to female, have an unfair advantage.

In 2022, Louisiana became the 18th state to pass a ban on transgender athletes.

the bill was put into law after Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards failed to veto or sign the bill.

The law requires schools ‘designate intercollegiate and interscholastic athletic teams according to the biological sex of team members.’

Those Against Transgender Athlete Bans argue that the bans are a way to humiliate and ostracize transgender athletes who ‘do not conform to culturally accepted notions of femininity’.