Vt. school banned from state sports events for anti-transgender policies

A Christian school that chose to forfeit a girls’ basketball tournament game rather than play against a team with a transgender player has been banned from Vermont school sporting events, VTDigger reports.

The Vermont Principals’ Association, which oversees school athletics in the state, said the Mid Vermont Christian School in Quechee will no longer be eligible to participate in any sports or any other sponsored activities.

Members of the Vermont Principals’ Association executive committee decided at a meeting Monday “that policies have been violated at the school level and thus there is an immediate determination of ineligibility for Mid Vermont Christian in VPA sanctioned activities and tournaments going forward,” according to a statement posted online.

Specifically, the private religious school violated the organization’s anti-discrimination and gender identity policies, the organization told the school in its letter of ineligibility. Those policies allow athletes to play on teams that are “consistent with their gender identity” and prohibit discrimination “based on a student’s actual or perceived sex and gender.”

As the Los Angeles Blade reported, Mid Vermont Christian School head of school Vicky Fogg issued a statement last month, defending their decision to forfeit.

“We believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players,” said Fogg. “Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general.”

MVCS’s decision made headlines around the world, with opponents of transgender inclusion hailing the school for standing up for cisgender girls and women and LGBTQ rights advocates and allies labeling the school transphobic and bigoted. 

Administrators at the school did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.