Christian High School girls basketball team loses playoff game against team with trans student

A Christian high school in Vermont lost a girls’ state championship playoff basketball game after discovering the opposing team had a transgender player on the roster.

Mid Vermont Christian School’s girls’ team, the Eagles, faced the Long Trail Mountain Lions in Game 4 of the playoffs last week before the Christian school folded and thus relinquished its spot in the tournament.

School principal Vicky Fogg said it would be unfair and unsafe for high school girls to play against a biologically male player on the other team.

In a statement to foxnewsFogg wrote: ‘We are withdrawing from the tournament because we believe that playing an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.

“Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general.”

Vermont state law prohibits discrimination against student athletes based on their gender identity and says that any dispute over a student’s ability to play must be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The team’s loss sent the Long Trail Mountain Lions to the quarterfinals, during which they lost to No. 4 seed Arlington, according to local media.

State law in Vermont prohibits discrimination against student athletes based on their gender identity and says that any dispute over a student’s ability to play because their biological gender does not match their gender identity must be considered on a case-by-case basis. .

The state Education Agency says best practice involves providing transgender and gender nonconforming students “the same opportunities to participate in physical education as all other students.”

‘In general, students should be allowed to participate in physical education and sports in accordance with the student’s gender identity. Participation in competitive athletic and sports activities will be resolved on a case-by-case basis.’

The agency also warned that transgender students should not be required to use the bathroom or locked room “that conflicts with the student’s gender identity.”

Earlier this year, Mid Vermont Christian School sent a letter to the agency requesting permission to continue receiving public tuition funds, while also arguing that it should not have to follow all of the state’s anti-discrimination laws because it is a religious organization.

“As a religious organization, the school has the statutory and constitutional right to make decisions based on its religious beliefs, including in hiring and disciplining employees, associating with others, and in its policies and procedures for admission, conduct, and operations,” he wrote. Fogg in a letter from early January.

“By signing this form, Mid Vermont Christian School is not waiving any of those rights,” he wrote, adding that to the extent state laws conflict with the school’s beliefs about “marriage and sexuality,” the school “has not included that language in its manual or online, nor can it affirm that particular aspect of Vermont’s Public Accommodations Law.’

The state’s progressive stance on the issue has caused before.

Last year, a Vermont high school girls’ soccer coach was suspended last fall after ‘misgendering’ a trans student on a private social media account while defending his daughter, who had spoken out against him. for a biologically male player to be in the girls’ locker room.

Blake Allen, 14, was suspended from Randolph Union High School after she called a biologically male student, who identifies as female, “dude” (Pictured: Blake and her father Travis)

Blake Allen previously spoke out against an unidentified transgender student using the girls’ locker rooms at his Vermont high school.

Blake Allen, 14, was suspended from Randolph Union High School and her father, Travis Allen, was fired without pay from his job as a girls’ soccer coach for calling out the biologically male student, who identifies as a transgender girl, ‘ male’.

“I got suspended because I expressed my opinion that a man shouldn’t be in the women’s locker room,” Blake told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.

“A lot of my classmates were supportive of me, I think most people and the school are, they’re too scared to speak up because they see all the backlash I’m getting.”

Travis said: “I made a post on social media that referred to the student as male and I was punished for it.” Because I got the wrong gender.

Blake later informed Carlson that the school lifted his suspension shortly after the lawsuit was filed. It’s not immediately clear if the school was aware of the lawsuit when it lifted the suspension.

“I don’t want other girls to feel uncomfortable about it,” Blake added. “I think everyone should be able to change in a locker room they were born in. If you were born a girl, you can go to the girls locker room and leave when you’re done. It should be simple and it isn’t anymore.’