A Christian high school is suing the state of Vermont for banning it from district sporting events because the school refused to play a game against a school that had a transgender player.
Back in February, Mid Vermont Christian School, located in Quechee, Vermont, forfeited a game against the Long Trail girls’ high school basketball team because the latter school had a male-born transgender “girl” playing for them.
Now, in a recently filed lawsuit, the school says it has been “irreparably harmed by being denied participation” in school district sports events and that it is “losing out on playing competitive sports as well as academic competitions,” according to the New York Post.
The school is being represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which says that the state of Vermont’s education rules violated Mid Vermont Christian School’s constitutional rights.
“The State is entitled to its own views, but it is not entitled, nor is it constitutional, to force private, religious schools across the state to follow that orthodoxy as a condition to participating in Vermont’s tuitioning program and the State’s athletic association,” the lawsuit says.
When the school decided not to play against Long Trail in February, the Vermont Principal’s Association (VPA) took immediate action to ban Mid Vermont for violating its policies on “commitment to racial, gender-fair, and disability awareness” and on “gender identity.”
The school, though, insists that the ban was “denying the Christian school and its students from participating in the state’s tuition program and sports league because of their religious beliefs.”
But the VPA countered.
“If you don’t want to follow VPA rules, that’s fine. But then you’re just not a VPA member,” VPA director Jay Nichols said about the organization’s ban on Mid Vermont. “It’s fairly simple. That’s really all we’re gonna really say about it.”
Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images
Mid Vermont Christian Head of School Vicky Fogg blasted the VPA, saying, “Cancelling our membership is not a solution and does nothing to deal with the very real issue of safety and fairness facing women’s sports in our beloved state.”
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