Published on November 28, 2023, 2:01 am

In a recent development, Mid Vermont Christian School, located in Hartford, has found itself at the center of a legal battle after it got barred from state tournaments and a state tuition program due to its withdrawal from a basketball game over trans-identifying male player. This incident happened back in February when the school decided to forfeit a girls’ basketball playoff citing “fairness of the game and safety of players” as reasons for their decision.

This situation accelerated quickly when the Vermont Principals’ Association, which regulates school sports, prohibited the mid Vermont Christian School from future tournaments on grounds that they had breached council’s policies on race, gender and disability awareness. Following this forfeiture decision by Mid Vermont Christian School, Long Trail High School was awarded an automatic win.

The controversy doesn’t end here. The state-affiliated Vermont State Board of Education demands every independent school to submit a nondiscrimination statement for approval and also mandates them to post this statement on their websites. Schools that do not get approved are excluded from participating in the state’s town tuition program. This program aims at securing private school education for students who reside in areas without public schools.

However, Mid Vermont Christian School confronts these demands through its federal lawsuit claiming that such requirements are discriminatory towards private religious schools practicing their beliefs. Also arguing it against constitutionality, it stresses that forcing such schools to abide by specific doctrines as prerequisites for participation in state’s programs doesn’t sit well with liberty.

For context underpinning their stance, Chris Goodwin, girls’ basketball coach at the school brought forth his personal perspective saying he would never envisage depriving his daughter conceivable opportunities due to her religious beliefs. Adding weightage to this sentiment, “No one should have opportunities taken away from them because of their religious beliefs”, said Chris Goodwin as reported by trusted news sources.

Taking this largely discussed issue further into legal territories is Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), representing Mid Vermont Christian School filing the lawsuit. The ADF senior counsel, Ryan Tucker elucidated that, “Vermont has repeatedly discriminated against Christian schools and their families for following their religious beliefs. Mid Vermont Christian School believes that boys are boys and girls are girls. No school or parent should have to change their beliefs to participate in athletics or a state tuitioning program.

This riveting case captures attention as it peeps into the deep chasms of constitutional law while reaffirming an undeniable intersection with the cultural and social fabric of societies today offering a real news perspective from a Christian worldview.