A Christian school in Vermont filed a lawsuit against state officials after it was banned from participating in the state’s sport leagues because over its stance on biological females competing against biological male “transgender” athletes.
As Townhall previously reported, Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) forfeited a basketball tournament after refusing to compete against a team that included a transgender player.
“We withdrew from the tournament because we believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players,” Vicky Fogg, the head of MVCS, said in a statement at the time.
“Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general,” Fogg added.
Shortly after, the Vermont Principals’ Association, which oversees school sporting events, announced that MVCS would be ineligible to participate in sporting events and other activities done through the organization, which Townhall also covered.
“The VPA again reiterates its ongoing support of transgender student-athletes as not only a part of building an inclusive community for each student to grow and thrive, but also as a clear expectation by Vermont state law(s) in the Agency of Education Best Practices, and in VPA Policy regarding transgender student athletes,” the announcement said.
According to Catholic News Agency, in the lawsuit, MVCS argues that the ban is a violation of the school’s First Amendment rights. The lawsuit reportedly asks the court to readmit the school into the sports league and allow the school to participate in the tuition program.
“Vermont has an infamous record of discriminating against religious schools and families, whether it be withholding generally available public funding or denying them membership in the state’s sports league because they hold religious beliefs that differ from the state’s preferred views,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Ryan Tucker, who is representing the school in the lawsuit, said in a statement to CNA.
Tucker added: “the state’s unlawful exclusion of Mid Vermont Christian from participating in the tuition program and athletic association is the latest example of state officials trampling on constitutionally protected rights.”
Reportedly, two families whose children attend the school have joined the lawsuit, claiming that their children have been negatively affected by the state’s policies.
“Vermont, through its education agency and sports association, has engaged in unconstitutional discrimination by requiring a Christian school and its students to surrender their religious beliefs and practices in order to receive public funds and compete in sports,” ADF counsel Jake Reed told CNA, adding that the students who attend MVCS are “losing out on valuable tuition reimbursement and being excluded from playing competitive sports and participating in academic competitions.”
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