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Vermont Christian School Fights Sports Ban for Affirming That ‘Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Girls’
In the fight over allowing biological males in women’s sports, a Christian school in Vermont finds itself in court—again.
Last year, Mid Vermont Christian School accused the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA), the “governing body for high school sports and activities for the state’s 300 public and private secondary schools,” and Vermont state officials of religious discrimination for kicking it out of the state sports league after refusing to compete against a biological male in girls’ basketball.
APPEAL FILED: We've filed a brief with the 2nd Circuit on behalf of Mid Vermont Christian School. The school is suing VT officials who expelled them from the state's athletics association after their girls' basketball team forfeited a game against a team with a male athlete.— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) September 3, 2024
In response to Mid Vermont’s religious freedom complaint, “U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford denied [the school’s] request for a preliminary injunction in June, ruling that the school was unlikely to prevail on the merits.”
Fast-forward to last week, when The Washington Times reported the school has once again pressed the issue by asking “the appeals court in the [Aug. 30] filing for a preliminary injunction reinstating its membership in the association pending the outcome of litigation.”
This case came about as a direct response to the violation of Mid Vermont’s conscience rights, as well as its concerns over safety and fairness in girls’ sports. As a result, the school was “initially barred from participating in all activities,” The Times noted. And while little progress has been made, “last month, the school and the association reached an agreement allowing the school to participate in nonathletic coed activities, including the Vermont State Spelling Bee, the Vermont Geo-Bee, and the Vermont Mathematics and Science Fairs.”
Despite this agreement, the overall threat of religious discrimination still looms. Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the school in court, warned, “The [Vermont Principals’ Association’s] blatant act of discrimination and hostility toward Mid Vermont’s beliefs violates the First Amendment.” As such, ADF senior counsel Ryan 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.”
And yet, the principals’ association seems to be holding to its belief that Mid Vermont violated its “Policy [on] Gender Identity” and “Commitment to Racial, Gender-Fair, and Disability Awareness” and issued an “immediate determination of ineligibility.”
In response to these circumstances, Mary Szoch, the Family Research Council’s director of the Center for Human Dignity, shared with The Washington Stand her perspective as a former Division I athlete. “Biological realities make it not only unfair, but also unsafe, for men to play women’s sports,” she stated. And this, she added, “is overwhelmingly evident in basketball.”
Szoch continued, “As a former Division I athlete who practiced against men daily, I can attest to the fact that at comparable levels, men have an undeniable advantage over women.”
If America continues on this path, Szoch argued, “One day the country will look back at this time in history and recognize men playing women’s sports is an attempt to prioritize the wants of men who are greatly in need of counseling over the safety of women.”
Szoch highlighted that Mid Vermont and the girls on its basketball team being willing to go through this messy case proves that the principals’ association “can take away their gold medals and their spot on the starting five—but they can never take away their self-respect and their commitment to truth and fairness.”
Digging deeper into this case, it stands to reason that “Christian schools and their families have the fundamental right to live out their faith,” insisted ADF legal counsel Jake Reed in an exclusive comment to The Washington Stand. “Vermont is discriminating against people of faith by penalizing them for their religious beliefs and exercise. No school, family, or child should have opportunities that are available to everyone else taken from them simply for adhering to their religious convictions.”
Reed further explained, “We filed an opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit,” which “should be simple: No school should be penalized for standing by its belief that boys are boys and girls are girls.” As he contended, “Every religious school has the right to adhere to its beliefs, and we are hopeful the court will agree.”
Currently, “Mid Vermont Christian School is still banned by the [principals’ association] from competing in any sports competitions,” and “every day this case goes on, it takes opportunities away from Mid Vermont children.”
“The First Amendment protects everyone’s freedom to exercise their religious beliefs,” Reed concluded, “and it does so even if those beliefs are contrary to the popular ideologies of the day. Alliance Defending Freedom will continue to fight for those who have been punished for publicly expressing and living out their faith.”
Originally published by The Washington Stand
The post Vermont Christian School Fights Sports Ban for Affirming That ‘Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Girls’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.
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