Cooper v. USA Powerlifting
Description: USA Powerlifting is protecting its women’s division in competition.
Female athletes support USA Powerlifting's decision to protect women's competition
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Rachel Rouleau regarding a friend-of-the-court brief ADF attorneys filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court in Cooper v. USA Powerlifting on behalf of former Idaho college track athlete Madison Kenyon and other female athletes. The case involves USA Powerlifting’s common-sense decision to keep its women’s division restricted to women:
“USA Powerlifting is right to protect women’s competition. Its decision to protect the women’s division underscores its commitment to ‘the honor and integrity of competitive powerlifting’ and to ‘provide a fair platform for competition.’ Alliance Defending Freedom represents many female athletes who are all too familiar with losing medals, rankings, and elite opportunities because a bigger, stronger, and faster male athlete was allowed to compete against them. As we explain in our brief on behalf of several of these athletes, science shows the clear physiological and athletic performance advantages that males have over women and girls. This advantage is particularly marked in strength sports like powerlifting. Women across the country are courageously standing up to preserve sex-defined female competitive divisions in athletics as the only means to provide equal opportunities for women and girls to experience fair competition, safety, and success in athletics. We urge the Minnesota Supreme Court to do right by all athletes and protect the women’s division in sports.”
Charles Shreffler, one of more than 4,800 attorneys in the ADF Attorney Network, is serving as local counsel.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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ABOUT Rachel Rouleau
Rachel Rouleau serves as legal counsel for the Church and Ministry Alliance with Alliance Defending Freedom. She focuses on providing legal support to ministries by reviewing governing documents and policies, preparing legal resources, and engaging in public advocacy. Since joining ADF in 2019, Rouleau has worked primarily on the Center for Conscience Initiatives where she focused on protecting the conscience rights of individuals forced to compromise their beliefs under threat of fines and punishment. Rouleau also worked on cases to protect the right of women and girls to privacy and fair competition, including B.P.J. v. West Virginia Board of Education and challenging the Biden administration's unlawful Title IX rule changes in 2024. Rouleau earned her J.D. from William and Mary Law School in 2019. She obtained her B.A., in political science, from the University of Florida in 2015. She is a member of the bar in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Virginia.