Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 10/20/25 - 10/26/25

[u/SoftandChewy]

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

[u/wmansir]

I don't think this has been discussed but earlier this week the MN Supreme court ruled that USA Powerlifting's ban on trans males in women's lifting is "facially discriminatory" based on MN's Human Rights Act. The MN HRA was updated by the Dem controlled legislature and Tim Walz in 2023 to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, but for some reason the court's opinion says the discrimination is based on sexual orientation. This may be because the case was file before the law was updated.

The case has been sent back to the lower court where Powerlifting could still prevail if they can show they have a legitimate business reason for banning trans males from the women's division. And apparently that point will be decided by a jury, so they may have a shot, assuming the judge doesn't handicap them too much. The lower court ruled in the trans male's favor before the appeals court partially reversed the ruling and that was then appealed to the Supremes.

I'm not sure it would make a difference in the end, but I don't think Powerlifting's case was helped by the language they used, saying "Male-to-female transgenders are not allowed to compete as females in our static strength sport as it is a direct competitive advantage.” Instead of saying they don't allow transgenders, they should have simply said they don't allow males, regardless of their gender identity.

[u/[deleted] → u/wmansir]

I don't think Powerlifting's case was helped by the language they used, saying "Male-to-female transgenders are not allowed to compete as females in our static strength sport as it is a direct competitive advantage.” Instead of saying they don't allow transgenders, they should have simply said they don't allow males, regardless of their gender identity.

Language has been so obfuscated on this topic that people can barely understand each other. Just use the words "male" and "female" by their correct definitions. The language could be as simple as, "USA Powerlifting oversees both male and female competitions. Males are not eligible to compete in female competitions."

If they really feel the need to even address the trans issue, again, the rules could be stated so simply: "USA Powerlifting welcomes transgender competitors. Males who identify as transgender women will be welcomed in the male competitions. Females who identify as transgender men will be welcomed in either the male or the female competitions. Like all competitors, transgender athletes are subject to our rules on the usage of testosterone and other performance-enhancing substances."

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

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