A Vermont high school is suing state officials after they were banned from all athletic and academic events for refusing to allow their girls’ basketball team to compete with transgender players, Fox News reported.
Mid Vermont Christian School said they were banned from all athletic games after a Feb. 21 loss against a Long Trail high school girls basketball team that had a biological boy on their team.
The PK-12 Christian school said they were “irreparably harmed by being denied participation” and “lost out in playing competitive sports as well as academic competitions,” their suit, filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), reads.
Mid Vermont filed suit after they said ADF banned them from participating in all athletic and academic events. WCAX
ADF is a Christian legal advocacy group that works to defend and preserve free speech to expand Christian practice in public schools and in government, ban abortion and restrict LGBTQ rights — states their website.
Immediate action was taken by the Vermont Principals Association (VPA) following Mid Vermont’s decision to cancel their game against Long Trail, stating that the school violated policies on “commitment to racism, gender equity and disability awareness” and on “gender identity.”
VPA initially issued a statement in February saying “VPA policy prohibits discrimination and/or harassment of students on school property or at school functions by students or employees.”
The lawsuit filed by Mid Vermont states they were only acting in accordance with the school’s religious beliefs. SOPA/LightRocket image via Getty Images
Mid Vermont denied such allegations in their lawsuit and explained that they were only acting in accordance with the religious beliefs their school adheres to.
Mid Vermont says that the VPA “denies Christian schools and their students from participating in tuition programs and state sports leagues because of their religious beliefs.”
The small Christian school, located in Quechee, lists itself on its official school website as “intentionally non-denominational,” emphasizing their education is rooted in the “mind of Christ.”
Mid Vermont said in the lawsuit they were “irreparably harmed by being denied participation” and “lost out in playing competitive sports as well as academic competitions.” WCAX
“The State is entitled to its own views, but it has no right, nor is it constitutional, to force private religious schools across the state to follow that orthodoxy as a condition of participating in Vermont’s tuition programs and State athletic associations,” the lawsuit reads.
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The VPA has since kicked Mid Vermont out of their association.
“If you don’t want to follow the VPA rules, that’s fine. But then you’re not a VPA member,” said the association’s executive director Jay Nichols, according to VTDigger. “It’s quite simple. That’s all we’ll say about it”
Long Trail had already played in 20 regular season games before their game against Mid Vermont was canceled.
There are 18 US state legislatures that have banned transgender students from competing in high school sports, according to the Movement Progress Project, as Vermont is one of the few states that allows it.
Mid Vermont Christian School Principal Vicky Fogg expressed disappointment in the VPA’s decision.
“Revoking our membership is not a solution and does nothing to address the very real issues of safety and fairness facing women’s sports in our beloved state,” Fogg wrote.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
