{"id":630936,"date":"2025-09-09T15:21:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/?p=630936"},"modified":"2025-09-10T09:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T13:38:10","slug":"vermont-christian-school-that-forfeited-game-over-transgender-player-wins-appeal-to-rejoin-state-athletics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2025\/09\/09\/vermont-christian-school-that-forfeited-game-over-transgender-player-wins-appeal-to-rejoin-state-athletics\/","title":{"rendered":"Vermont Christian school that forfeited game over transgender player wins appeal to rejoin state athletics"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"749\" height=\"500\" data-attachment-id=\"538602\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/mid-vermont-christian\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mid-Vermont-Christian.jpeg\" data-orig-size=\"749,500\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Valley News - James M. Patterson&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D750&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Long Trail fans cheer after a basket by their team during the Vermont Div. IV semifinal with Mid Vermont Christian at the Barre Auditorium in Barre, Vt., on Monday, March 6, 2023. Some fans waved pride flags and wore transgender flags after the Mid Vermont Christian girls basketball team forfeited a game with the Mountain Lions last week and withdrew from the tournament rather than play a team with a transgender athlete. Mid Vermont won 47-46. (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1678134743&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Copyright \\u00a92023 Valley News, All Rights Reserved?&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;190&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;6400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0015625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Mid-Vermont-Christian\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Long Trail fans cheer after a basket by their team during the Vermont Div. IV semifinal with Mid Vermont Christian at the Barre Auditorium in Barre, Vt., on Monday, March 6, 2023. Some fans waved pride flags and wore transgender flags after the Mid Vermont Christian girls basketball team forfeited a game with the Mountain Lions last week and withdrew from the tournament rather than play a team with a transgender athlete. Mid Vermont won 47-46. (Valley News &#8211; James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mid-Vermont-Christian.jpeg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mid-Vermont-Christian.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Mid-Vermont-Christian.jpeg\" alt=\"Long Trail fans cheer after a basket by their team during the Vermont Div. IV semifinal with Mid Vermont Christian at the Barre Auditorium in Barre, Vt., on Monday, March 6, 2023. Some fans waved pride flags and wore transgender flags after the Mid Vermont Christian girls basketball team forfeited a game with the Mountain Lions last week and withdrew from the tournament rather than play a team with a transgender athlete. Mid Vermont won 47-46. Photo by James M. Patterson\/Valley News\" class=\"wp-image-538602\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Long Trail fans cheer after a basket by their team at Mid Vermont Christian at the Barre Auditorium on March 6, 2023. File photo by James M. Patterson\/Valley News<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Updated at 4:39 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the Mid Vermont Christian School must be allowed to participate in state athletics, two years after being banned for forfeiting against a team with a transgender player. The court returned the case to district court for further proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ruling comes after several years of litigation by the pre-K-12 private Christian school in Quechee. The Vermont Principals\u2019 Association barred the school from participating in state athletics after the school <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2023\/02\/27\/mid-vermont-christian-school-girls-basketball-forfeits-playoff-game-rather-than-compete-against-team-with-transgender-player\/\">forfeited<\/a> a girls\u2019 playoff basketball game in February 2023 to avoid playing the Long Trail School, which had a transgender player on the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>School officials at the time said they were concerned that playing against &#8220;a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of the players,&#8221; and its head of school, Vicky Fogg, <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2023\/02\/27\/mid-vermont-christian-school-girls-basketball-forfeits-playoff-game-rather-than-compete-against-team-with-transgender-player\/\">told Valley News<\/a> that allowing &#8220;biological males to participate in women\u2019s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women\u2019s sports in general.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-light-blue-background-color has-background\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1c1b4f74 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c0213cbd22f6b8fbb5ef50a67f12df73\" style=\"padding-bottom:0\">READ MORE<\/h5>\n\n\n\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles  wpnbha show-image image-alignleft ts-4 is-2 is-landscape mobile-stack  has-text-align-left\"\n\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t<div data-posts data-current-post-id=\"630936\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"481889\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-basketball tag-long-trail-school tag-mid-vermont-christian tag-transgender-students tag-transgender-vermonters category-bennington-county category-education category-windsor-county type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"post-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2023\/02\/27\/mid-vermont-christian-school-girls-basketball-forfeits-playoff-game-rather-than-compete-against-team-with-transgender-player\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-1200x900.jpg?crop=1\" class=\"attachment-newspack-article-block-landscape-large size-newspack-article-block-landscape-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Mid Vermont Christian School girls basketball forfeits playoff game rather than compete against team with transgender player\" data-hero-candidate=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-1200x900.jpg?crop=1 1200w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-800x600.jpg?crop=1 800w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-600x450.jpg?crop=1 600w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-400x300.jpg?crop=1 400w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-200x150.jpg?crop=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw \/ 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw \/ 12)), 100vw\" data-attachment-id=\"537716\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2023\/01\/20\/after-racist-taunting-fans-banned-from-bfa-fairfax-boys-basketball-games\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Basketball. Stock photo via Pexels&lt;\/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;basketball, sports, athletics, &lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Basketball. Stock photo via Pexels&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pexels-cottonbro-studio-7201554-1200x800.jpg\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure><!-- .featured-image -->\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2023\/02\/27\/mid-vermont-christian-school-girls-basketball-forfeits-playoff-game-rather-than-compete-against-team-with-transgender-player\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Mid Vermont Christian School girls basketball forfeits playoff game rather than compete against team with transgender player<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/cap-valley-news\/\">Valley News<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2023-02-27T19:12:16-05:00\">February 27, 2023, 7:12 pm<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2023-02-27T19:12:21-05:00\">February 27, 2023, 7:12 pm<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The Vermont Principals&#8217; Association governs rules around school sports in Vermont, and said at the time that Mid Vermont Christian <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2023\/03\/13\/vermont-religious-school-that-refused-to-play-team-with-trans-player-banned-from-sporting-events\/\">violated<\/a> its anti-discrimination and gender identity policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The school, along with several parents and students, <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2023\/11\/28\/private-christian-school-sues-over-state-policy-on-transgender-athletes\/\">sued<\/a> in federal court in 2023, seeking reinstatement of the school&#8217;s membership to the Vermont Principals\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Tuesday\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/ww3.ca2.uscourts.gov\/decisions\/isysquery\/8f23ace9-a31a-4963-8ce1-e3ead84cd3b1\/4\/doc\/24-1704_opn.pdf#xml=https:\/\/ww3.ca2.uscourts.gov\/decisions\/isysquery\/8f23ace9-a31a-4963-8ce1-e3ead84cd3b1\/4\/hilite\/\">court ruling<\/a>, Mid Vermont Christian School argued that &#8220;forcing girls to compete against the biological males would affirm that those males are females,&#8221; in violation of their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford in June 2024 denied the school&#8217;s request to be readmitted to the principals&#8217; association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But on Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed that decision and agreed with the school&#8217;s claims, writing that they were &#8220;likely to succeed&#8221; in showing that the association&#8217;s exclusion of the school &#8220;was not neutral because it displayed hostility toward the school\u2019s religious beliefs.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Judge Michael H. Park, writing for the court, wrote that the principals&#8217; association &#8220;publicly castigated Mid Vermont \u2014 and religious schools generally \u2014 while the VPA rushed to judgment on whether and how to discipline the school.&#8221; Park said that the punishment they imposed on the school &#8220;was unprecedented, overbroad, and procedurally irregular.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court sent the case back to the federal district court for further proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jay Nichols said Tuesday the Vermont Principals&#8217; Association, its officers and employees &#8220;do not harbor any hostility towards religious viewpoints,&#8221; but declined to comment further, citing pending litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A spokesperson for the state&#8217;s Agency of Education declined to comment, also citing pending litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The school was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a preeminent conservative Christian legal group that has had a growing presence in Vermont <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2023\/12\/18\/in-vermont-schools-conservative-legal-groups-have-become-a-potent-force\/\">education<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2025\/06\/05\/anti-abortion-advocates-drop-federal-lawsuit-against-vermont-after-lawmakers-nix-language-targeting-crisis-pregnancy-centers\/\">politics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group, in <a href=\"https:\/\/adflegal.org\/press-release\/vermont-christian-school-back-in-the-game\/\">a press release<\/a>, called the ruling a &#8220;victory for religious schools.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>David Cortman, senior counsel and vice president of U.S. litigation for the group, said in the press release that the appeals court was &#8220;right to uphold constitutional protections by guaranteeing the school can fully participate while still adhering to its religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris Goodwin, the Mid Vermont Christian School girls&#8217; basketball coach, said in the press release that the school strives &#8220;to exemplify biblical truth in and through everything we do.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019re grateful for our legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom who helped us get back in the game,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some advocacy organizations disagreed with the ruling. Amanda Rohdenburg, the senior director of advocacy and land stewardship at Outright Vermont, a statewide nonprofit advocacy group for LGBTQ+ people, called the court decision &#8220;yet another affront to Vermont\u2019s core values, policies, and laws, which are clear on their commitments to anti-discrimination based on gender identity.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Allowing private schools to violate these policies is not only a setback in the progress we\u2019ve made to support all youth, but it also fuels a dangerous collective delirium about kids simply trying to be themselves,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Monica Allard, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Vermont, cautioned in an emailed statement that while the ruling was \u201cdisappointing,\u201d it was \u201cimportant to underscore that the court did not rule against Vermont\u2019s policy of including trans kids in school sports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis decision does not impact the rights of trans kids to participate fully in school activities \u2014 or the responsibilities of schools to ensure that all students have equitable access to educational and extracurricular opportunities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mid Vermont Christian School sued the state and Vermont Principals\u2019 Association after it was barred from participating in state sports following its refusal to compete against a transgender athlete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1825,"featured_media":538602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-09-09T19:21:13Z","apple_news_api_id":"8ab5648c-4bea-437a-be5b-0fef8cdd1f70","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-09-10T13:38:14Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AirVkjEvqQ3q-Ww_vjN0fcA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"everlit_article_id":"","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"","everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"","_everlit_metadata_hash":"","_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"Mid Vermont Christian School sued the state and Vermont Principals\u2019 Association after it was barred from participating in state sports following its refusal to compete against a transgender athlete.\n","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,161361,161376,161377],"tags":[35559,13076,163111,10558],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"govpack_profile_tax":[],"coauthors":[170960],"class_list":["post-630936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-regional","category-southern-vermont","category-windsor-county","tag-alliance-defending-freedom","tag-geoffrey-crawford","tag-mid-vermont-christian","tag-vermont-principals-association","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - 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