Update: Christian school sues Vermont after ban from sports league over transgender policy | Catholic News Agency

A Christian school based in Vermont filed a lawsuit against state officials after the school was banned from participating in the state’s sports leagues and a tuition program because of its policies related to transgender athletes.

The lawsuit, filed by Mid Vermont Christian School, a K–12 school in the town of Quechee, argues that the ban is a violation of the school’s First Amendment rights. It asks the court to readmit the school into the sports league and allow the school to participate in the tuition program.

Mid Vermont Christian School was banned from participating in the sports league earlier this year after its girls basketball team refused to participate in a playoff game against Long Trail School because the team’s roster included a biological male who identifies as a girl. Mid Vermont Christian chose to forfeit the game due to concerns about fairness and safety.

“The biological male on Long Trail’s team is taller than any girl on Mid Vermont Christian’s team,” the lawsuit states. “Available video of the biological male playing basketball, which showed the athlete repeatedly blocking girls’ shots, throwing elbows, and knocking girls down further underscored Mid Vermont Christian’s concerns.”

Source: Christian school sues Vermont after ban from sports league over transgender policy | Catholic News Agency

Mid Vermont Christian is a very small, division 4, K-12 school in White River Junction, Vermont. On February 20th Mid Vermont Christian women’s basketball team opted to forfeit their state playoff game against the Long Trail Mountain Lions because they have a biological male on their team. He is the tallest member of the team and a starter.

I first covered this story back in March. It is discouraging no matter what angle I look at it. In my opinion LGBTQ+ activists are absolutely exploiting this confused young boy. Not only are they encouraging him to harm himself by seeking gender affirming medical care, they are teaching him that he has the right and responsibility to violate the rights of biological girls and are also using him to punish a Christian school for acting according to their conscience.

None of these things are in this boy’s best interests even if he is that extremely rare male who, if left to his own devices rather than being groomed, would want to, as a mature adult, live life as a transgender female. Is he being encouraged to let body and mind to fully mature before he makes irreparable medical decisions? No. Is he being taught good sportsmanship? No. Is he being taught to respect and honor biological women? No. Is he being taught to put the needs of others ahead of his own… basic charity towards his fellow man? No. Is he being taught to respect the religious beliefs of others? No. I don’t blame him. He is not like the adult athletes who maliciously change gender just to win medals. He is a child, like Jazz Jennings, who is being used to further a radical agenda. It leaves a pit in my stomach.

School That Refused To Compete Against Transgender Player Banned From Future Sporting Events | The Daily Caller

A private Christian school in Vermont has been banned from future sporting events for refusing to compete against a transgender athlete.

Source: School That Refused To Compete Against Transgender Player Banned From Future Sporting Events | The Daily Caller

I have actually been watching this story since it broke. It took a few weeks for it to ferment into a complete story, so I waited.

With Christianity declining in western civilization, there will be a natural increase in people who despise being ‘victimized’ by the moral teachings of Christ. When I say ‘victimized,’ I do not mean real victimization, like getting beaten by a mob of Antifa thugs. I mean Christian morality bothers the conscience of those who live lives antithetical to those morals. Our marriages, our families, our faith, the fact that we consider real freedom is to behave as we ought instead of behaving any way we want, pricks their conscience. It pains them that we hold ourselves to a higher law, God’s law, and they will do anything to get us to violate those laws so they can assuage their own guilt.

Mid Vermont Christian is a very small, division 4, K-12 school in White River Junction, Vermont. On February 20th Mid Vermont Christian women’s basketball team opted to forfeit their state playoff game against the Long Trail Mountain Lions because they have a biological male on their team. He is the tallest member of the team and a starter.

I have since watched video of both the Long Trail men’s and women’s teams. I felt a profound, uncomfortable sense of sadness watching this young man play. This awkward, slender boy, who is the starting post player on the women’s varsity squad, would not have made even the junior varsity on the boys side. Nevertheless, he gets to play varsity ball and is going to get his varsity letter in basketball. He might even get a letterman’s jacket and proudly walk the hallways of his school… yet no matter how this is framed by the NeoLiberal Left, it will always be a hollow achievement for this young man.

You are not going to find his photo, at least not easily, on the internet, nor any stats. That is a good thing. Fame is the last thing this young man needs. While this situation is wrong, I can’t help but feel he is a victim of the society around him, a society that is also victimizing the young women on his team and those he competes against.

Mid Vermont Christian made the difficult decision to forfeit their first round, state playoff game against the Long Trail team. At 14-6 going into the game, Long Trail was clearly a better team than the 5-12 Mid Vermont Christian team. LT handily beat all of the common opponents that defeated MVCS. As weak a player as Long Trail’s biologically male center is, his height in the post would have given his team a distinct advantage over the much shorter MVCS team. An unfair advantage, actually.

“We believe playing against 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,” school administrator Vicky Fogg explained.

And she is right… and now as punishment, with Canadian swiftness, the Vermont Principals’ Association, the governing body for Vermont high school athletics, has entirely cancelled MVCS. They are no longer allowed to participate in any state sponsored activities, athletics or otherwise. We are talking about the same state that has introduced a bill requiring Catholic priests to violate the seal of confession.

It did not take much courage for Mid Vermont Christian School to stand fast with Christ and accept the inevitable persecution that would result. At least not when compared to the courage expressed in two millennia of Christian martyrs. Standing up for our faith should be as natural as breathing. Yet many Christian schools, like Ontario’s St. Joseph’s, folded and denied Christ with only the slightest secular pressure. Many Christian denominations have also folded with minimal social pressure. Even in the Catholic Church, Germany appears to be heading towards a schism with Rome, and Canada may be next.

So much for living up to our Abrahamic roots. So much for being willing to carry our own Cross when it comes time. It is a testament to how weak our faith has become in the 21st Century. No matter what we tell ourselves, we do not dictate to God. We are not in charge. Christ is in charge, and He does not bend or change the Word to entice us from walking away from Him no matter how much He loves us. Jesus cannot be plied, bribed, cajoled, or threatened into making exceptions. There is no Heavenly two-tiered judicial system as exists here.

MVCS is appealing the cancellation. I pray they do not fold in order to get back in the good graces of these popular, woke bullies. I never liked the popular bullies. Luckily for me, most of the popular bullies from my childhood eventually grew up to become good people. I do not think that will be the case with the Vermont Principal’s Association.