A federal appeals court says a Vermont Christian school can participate in the state’s sports league, overturnin
a previous ruling that upheld a ban on the school after it forfeited a high school girls basketball game against a team with a transgender athlete.
In a Sept. 9 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted Mid Vermont Christian School a preliminary injunction to rejoin the Vermont Principal
s’ Association — also known as the state’s executive council that governs school sports — as the legal battle continues in court.
“We conclude that plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the
VPA’s expulsion of Mid Vermont was not neutral because it displayed hostility toward the school’s religious beliefs,” the appeals court wrote in their decision.
In 2023, the Quechee-based private school forfeited a game be
cause officials believed the opposing teams’ transgender player jeopardized “the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.”
In response, the VPA ruled that the school had violated the council’s
policies on race, gender and disability awareness, and therefore was ineligible to participate in all state-sponsored games and other events including debate tournaments and science fairs.
Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Mid Vermont Christian, some students and parents then filed a lawsuit accusing the state of violating the sch
ool’s First Amendment rights. It said Mid Vermont Christian, which has comp
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eted in the state sports association for nearly 30 years, forfeited the single game “to avoid violating its religious beliefs.”
“The government cannot punish religious schools — and the families they serve — by permanently kicking them out of state-sponsored sports simply because th
e state disagrees with their religious beliefs,” David Cortman, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom who is representing the Vermont school, said in an email Monday.
Emails seeking comment were sent to Mid Vermont and the Vermont Principals Association. The Vermont Secr
etary of Education’s office, which is also named in the lawsuit, declined to comment due to the ongoing litigation.
A lower district court in 2024 ruled in the state’s favor, arguing that
the executive council applies the athletic policy uniformly and doesn’t target religious organizations for enforcement or discrimination.
However, the appeals court disagreed. The appellate court argued that the state was “hostile to Mid Vermont’s re
ligious views” and declared the outright ban on participating in sports and non-athletic activities “unprecedented, overbroad, and procedurally irregular.”