Christian School Banned and Blacklisted After Girls Team Forfeits Game Over Trans Opponent
A Vermont Christian girls basketball team is continuing to face major consequences after athletes refused to play against a team that had a biological male athlete who identifies as transgender.
As CBN News reported, Mid Vermont Christian School, a K-12 institution in Quechee, Vermont, has been permanently banned from the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA), the body overseeing athletics in the state, because the school operates its athletic program consistent with its religious beliefs about sexuality and gender.
Last year, the Mid Vermont Christian School girls’ basketball team declined to play against a team that included a biologically male player.
“The Mid Vermont Christian Girls Basketball team qualified for their state-sponsored sports league playoff tournament,” Ryan Tucker, an attorney at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) representing the school, told CBN News. “And when they were looking at the seedings, they knew that the team that they were paired up against had a biological male who was professing to be female.”
School officials reportedly contacted the VPA in advance to express safety and religious concerns about competing against a biological male, but they were not given another option to play a different competitor, so they were forced to forfeit the game.
“And, as a result, the state punished them by kicking them, not just obviously out of that tournament, but out of the sports association entirely,” Tucker said. “And so their girl sports season ended and they’ve been kicked out of that league.”
The VPA also “blacklisted” the school from all state-sponsored events in the state including co-ed academic competitions like the Geo-Bee, Science and Math Fair, and Debate and Forensics League.
VPA officials argued that the school violated its policies regarding gender, race, and disability awareness and said it would refuse to let the school back into the league unless it updated its policies.
The ADF filed a federal lawsuit asking the league to reinstate the school into the league. U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford denied them readmittance.
In September, the school, students, and parents filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit citing that VPA’s actions violated the students’ First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit points out that while Mid Vermont has been penalized for their stance, three schools within the VPA have been allowed to forfeit games to avoid competing against a player who had a mask exemption, without consequences.
“The VPA cannot wield such unbridled discretion, accept when schools forfeit games for secular reasons, and then expel Mid Vermont for forfeiting a game based on its religious beliefs. Nor can the VPA exclude ‘an otherwise eligible religious school from a public benefit solely because of its religious exercise,'” the opening brief states.
Trans Conflict at the Collegiate Level – The Case of San Jose State
These types of forfeits are happening in other places too. At the collegiate level, there’s a big controversy brewing over San Jose State University.
The University of Nevada, Reno volleyball team joins the ranks of Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, and Utah State who all have forfeited games against San Jose State University because of player Blaire Fleming.
As CBN News reported, Fleming, born Brayden, previously played for Coastal Carolina University but transferred to San Jose State following the implementation of South Carolina’s Women’s Sports Bill that prohibited males from competing in women’s sports.
Controversy began to swell around Fleming after the player’s identity was made public in April. According to Quillette, school officials refused to acknowledge the player’s former identity or Fleming’s advantages against biological women.
If you’re wondering why teams are forfeiting against @SJSU, here’s the reason.
Last night another woman was smashed in the face by a kill from a man posing as a woman.
It’s unfair, unsafe, and regressive, yet our “leaders” remain silent. pic.twitter.com/OS15AFxQsp
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 18, 2024
“Fleming is a biologically male athlete who chooses to self-identify as a woman for legal and social purposes,” wrote Jonathan Kay for the outlet. “The pretense is rooted in the official policies of SJSU’s Athletics Department, which demand that the asserted female gender identity of trans women such as Fleming be taken as trumping human biology.”
The fight for women’s safety continues to be a battle on the field and in the courts.
San Jose State player Brooke Slusser has joined in a lawsuit against the NCAA in recent weeks claiming she had to share a court, locker room, and even a room on overnight trips with Fleming without having ever been told that Fleming was a biological male.
Only the Christian School Is Being Punished
Meanwhile, the battle for Mid Vermont is the only one that is reportedly keeping students out of future games.
As CBN News reported, the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell’s girls’ basketball team in Massachusetts forfeited its February 8 game against KIPP Massachusetts after a biological male injured three of the school’s players in less than 16 minutes of play.
But they were not penalized.
Additionally, in August, four Merrimack Valley High School soccer starters did not play a game in protest of a boy being allowed to compete in New Hampshire, the Daily Signal reports.
“No religious school or their students and parents should be denied equal access to publicly available benefits simply for holding to their religious beliefs,” Tucker said. “We are urging the court to uphold constitutional protections by guaranteeing the school can fully participate while still adhering to its religious beliefs.”
**Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
#Christian #School #Banned #Blacklisted #Girls #Team #Forfeits #Game #Trans #Opponent