In a victory for religious schools, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled Tuesday that Vermont must allow a Christian school back into the state’s athletic association.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Mid Vermont Christian School and one of its families filed a lawsuit against state officials two years ago after they expelled the school and its students from participating in all state-sponsored sports because the school followed its religious beliefs by forfeiting a girls’ basketball game against a male player.
“The government cannot punish religious schools—and the families they serve—by permanently kicking them out of state-sponsored sports simply because the state disagrees with their religious beliefs,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of U.S. Litigation David Cortman, who argued before the court. “For over two years, state officials have denied Mid Vermont Christian School a public benefit available to all other schools in Vermont just because it stood by the widely held, biblical belief that boys and girls are different. The 2nd Circuit was right to uphold constitutional protections by guaranteeing the school can fully participate while still adhering to its religious beliefs.”
“I never thought I would be in court for simply adhering to my Christian and commonsense belief that boys and girls are different,” said Chris Goodwin, coach of the girls’ basketball team. “At Mid Vermont Christian School, we strive to exemplify biblical truth in and through everything we do. We’re grateful for our legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom who helped us get back in the game. As a coach, I always want my team to play in fair and safe competitions. As a dad, I want my daughter to know that she should always stand up for her beliefs and should never be punished for that decision.”
“[Mid Vermont Christian and the Goodwins] are likely to succeed in establishing that [state officials] acted with hostility toward Mid Vermont’s religious beliefs,” the court wrote in its opinion in Mid Vermont Christian School v. Saunders. “The VPA’s Executive Director publicly castigated Mid Vermont—and religious schools generally—while the VPA rushed to judgment on whether and how to discipline the school. In upholding the expulsion, the VPA doubled down on that hostility by challenging the legitimacy of the school’s religious beliefs. And as noted above, the punishment imposed was unprecedented, overbroad, and procedurally irregular. Those facts strongly support the inference that Mid Vermont’s religious objection ‘was not considered with the neutrality that the Free Exercise Clause requires.’”
Mid Vermont Christian School is a faith-based pre-K–12 school, located in Quechee, whose religious beliefs drive and form the foundation for everything it does. In 2023, the Vermont Principals’ Association kicked Mid Vermont out of its athletic association because the school forfeited a girls’ basketball game against a girls’ team with a male athlete because playing the game would have violated the school’s religious convictions.
Although the VPA’s general policy is to prohibit boys from playing on girls’ sports teams “to protect opportunities for girl athletes,” it has adopted policies that allow males who identify as female to participate in girls’ sports. The VPA has been demanding that Mid Vermont’s girls’ teams play against teams with male athletes or not play at all and has refused to let Mid Vermont compete unless the school capitulates.
Because of the 2nd Circuit’s ruling, the school will no longer be barred from all VPA athletics simply for forfeiting one basketball game while the case proceeds.
