Two Years Later, Vermont Christian High School Still Banned From Sports For Transgender Protest

In 2023, the girls basketball team at Mid Vermont Christian School forfeited a state playoff game against Long Trail because the latter had a male player who identified as a girl. The Vermont Principals Association immediately took action against the Christian school and banned it from all tournaments in all sports.

Two years later, the school remains banned from state athletics competition, and is currently suing the VPA for violating its First Amendment rights.

OutKick spoke with Chris Goodwin, the coach of the girls high school basketball team, and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Counsel, Ryan Tucker. ADF is the firm representing Mid Vermont in the lawsuit against the VPA. 

"They removed us from the VPA, kicked us out of the league, kicked us out of girls basketball, kicked us out of every sport that they run. So, volleyball, basketball, track, cross-country … they completely removed us from all athletic competition in the state, and it's been that way for the past two seasons now," Goodwin said. 

A Christian high school girls' basketball team in Vermont refused to compete against a transgender opponent in 2023 and has since been banned from all VPA sports.

(Stock Photo - Getty Images)

Goodwin said the school had no choice but to pursue legal action because the VPA decided to remove them due to their religious beliefs, and they weren't willing to sacrifice their values. 

"There was no way around this issue and the state was going to keep us out unless we changed our religious viewpoints," Goodwin said. "I really feel like it's probably the only option we could pursue." 

Tucker said that he was floored when Mid Vermont came to ADF to seek legal counsel because he had never seen such a blatant violation of religious freedom. 

"This was very egregious … to kick a school out based on its beliefs was unheard of," Tucker said. "It wasn't just the girls' basketball team, of course, that got excluded; it was all sports. And so it was sort of a no-brainer that we had to step in and do what we could to try to get them back in the league." 

Tucker pointed out that schools can forfeit a game for any number of reasons, but the fact that Mid Vermont Christian was leaning on its religious beliefs to inform its decision made this a clear First Amendment issue. 

"The punishment itself is absolutely nuts. … If a school can forfeit a game for secular reasons, why can't they forfeit for a religious one?" Tucker asked rhetorically. "In years past, whether it was during COVID or maybe there weren't enough players available, other schools could forfeit for a variety of reasons with no repercussions other than to take a loss on that particular game. But here, because this is due to the religious beliefs of the school and the state doesn't like those beliefs, they've kicked them out entirely. It's utterly insane and absolutely unconstitutional." 

Goodwin went in-depth on how the players, coaches and parents were all on board with the forfeit because their Christian values reject the idea that anyone is "born in the wrong body" and allowing males to compete in women's sports creates safety, fairness and morality concerns. 

It wasn't just the girls' basketball team, of course, that got excluded; it was all sports. And so it was sort of a no-brainer that we had to step in and do what we could to try to get them back in the league.

"We believe that God created us distinctly male and female, and when those male and female people grow up, they become male and female high school athletes and the body doesn't change," Goodwin explained. "The male body has a lot of advantages over the female body when it comes to sports -- strength, speed, agility, height, size, all of that. An extension of those religious beliefs just shows us that it's going to be unfair competition. It's going to be a much more demonstrably unsafe competition." 

To that point, Goodwin pointed out that this particular male athlete injured a female athlete on another team. As the father of a girl on the team, the head coach said he wasn't willing to risk his own child's safety. 

"The same high school athlete we forfeited against ended up concussing a girl on another team, and she missed three weeks of the season. And for me to put my girls out there on the court and then put my daughter out there on the court to be in that position … I would feel like really a bad dad if I ended up doing that. … The parents, the school, and they're all fully behind us." 

There was also an example in Massachusetts where a male basketball player injured three different female players in one game, causing the team to forfeit at halftime because it didn't have enough players. 

Goodwin said he thought the Vermont Principals' Association wanted to make an example out of his school by kicking them out of all athletic competitions. Their message was clear: accept that we want males competing in girls' sports, or you don't get to compete. 

"We all understood that there would probably be some kickback from the state [but] we didn't expect it to be as severe as it was," he said. "They were probably making an example out of us, letting other coaches, other teams and other players know that if they decided to do what we did, that they'd be in the same boat. So, I think it was kind of a bully move as well." 

As for where this goes from here, that's up to the legal system. But Goodwin said the lawsuit is bigger than just about getting the school back into state competitions, although that's the ultimate goal. He wanted to send a message to his kids about the importance of standing up for what's right. 

What the state is basically saying [is], ‘You can play basketball, and you can play sports in this state, but only if you will compete against male athletes.’ And we don't agree with that.

"You want to be able to teach your kids that you want to stand up to things when you feel they're wrong and not be afraid of that and not be bullied or forced to compromise," he said. "What the state is basically saying [is], ‘You can play basketball, and you can play sports in this state, but only if you will compete against male athletes.’ And we don't agree with that. So, they're trying to force us to play, and we're not going to do that." 

But, once again, the losers in the situation are the girls. In order to protect the feelings of one male athlete, the needs of the female athletes are completely ignored. 

"[There are] all these opportunities that the state has taken away from these girls. It's super disappointing. The girls are sad about it," Goodwin said. "And it's just a shame that the state did this to us, and we're looking to make it right."