A basketball coach at a Vermont private school that was banned by the state\u2019s schools association after it forfeited a game last year to avoid playing against a boy who claims to be a girl is defending his actions despite the extreme punishment by ultra-woke school officials.<\/p>\n
Chris Goodwin, coach of the girls basketball team for Mid-Vermont Christian School in White River Junction, Vermont, decided <\/a>his team would not play in a Feb. 21, 2023, state playoff game.<\/p>\n Goodwin made the decision because the opponent had a boy playing on its team who claimed to be a transgender<\/a> girl. Goodwin said it was both unfair and unsafe for his girls to play.<\/p>\n At the time, Mid-Vermont Christian Head of School Vicky Fogg wrote in an email to the Valley News<\/a> newspaper, which covers the White River Junction area, that Goodwin forfeited the game because the transgender player \u201cjeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAllowing biological males to participate in women\u2019s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women\u2019s sports in general,\u201d Fogg wrote.<\/p>\n But the school was soon set upon by the Vermont Principals Association, which accused Mid-Vermont Christian of violating state laws that demand that schools allow transgender athletes to pick whatever team they feel most comfortable playing for at any given time.<\/p>\n The principals association banned Mid-Vermont Christian from participating in all VPA-sanctioned activities<\/a>, which include not only athletics but also extracurricular competitions such as drama and debate competitions and science and math fairs.<\/p>\n Mid-Vermont Christian, in turn, has filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the association, claiming \u201cunconstitutional religious discrimination and hostility.\u201d In addition to the Vermont Principals Association, defendants named by the lawsuit include the leaders of the Vermont Agency of Education and the state Board of Education.<\/p>\n The lawsuit claims the ban prevents Mid-Vermont Christian from participation in the state\u2019s \u201ctuitioning<\/a>\u201d program \u2014 a form of school vouchers that pays student tuition at private schools \u2014 and the state dual enrollment program<\/a>, which allows high school students to take earn college credits.<\/p>\n The stakes, in other words, are higher than a basketball game.<\/p>\n Goodwin appeared on \u201cFox & Friends\u201d<\/a> on Monday to talk about his experience and to defend his actions.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got four daughters. I\u2019ve coached them all at one point in their careers playing high school basketball,\u201d Goodwin said as he criticized the idea of boys playing\u00a0as girls<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve also filled in for the boys\u2019 coach when he can\u2019t make a practice, and I run those practices, and boys just play at a different speed, a different force \u2026 than the girls play. It\u2019s a different game.\u201d<\/p>\n Goodwin explained that he felt it would be \u201cirresponsible\u201d to let his girls team play against a male and added that it would be \u201casking for an injury\u201d from the stronger and faster male player.<\/p>\n No school should be punished for believing in biology.<\/p>\n Chris Goodwin, client and girls coach for Mid Vermont Christian School, shares the story | @FoxNews<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5sWcVhHvxT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) February 26, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n In a brusque, March 13, 2023, memo<\/a> to Mid-Vermont Christian, the principals\u2019 association said the school did not meet the group\u2019s commitment to \u201cracial,\u201d \u201cgender-fair\u201d and \u201cgender identity\u201d policies.<\/p>\n \u201cThus, Mid-Vermont Christian school is ineligible to participate in VPA activities going forward,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n In a statement to CNN<\/a> after Mid-Vermont Christian filed its lawsuit in November, the governing body said the school \u201chas every right to teach its beliefs to its own students. It cannot, however, impose those beliefs on students from other public and private schools; deny students from other schools the opportunity to play; or hurt students from other schools because of who those students are.\u201d<\/p>\n In its lawsuit, Mid-Vermont Christian argues it has been \u201cirreparably harmed by being denied participation\u201d in state sports competitions and is \u201closing out on playing competitive sports as well as academic competition.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe VPA won\u2019t even allow the School and its students to participate in co-ed academic competitions like the Geo-Bee, Science and Math Fair, and Debate and Forensics League-all because the School believes biological boys are boys and cannot affirm otherwise,\u201d the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n \u201cThe State is entitled to its own views,\u201d it argues, \u201cbut it is not entitled, nor is it constitutional, to force private, religious schools across the state to follow that orthodoxy as a condition to participating in Vermont\u2019s tuitioning program and the State\u2019s athletic association.\u201d<\/p>\n Goodwin is unrepentant over the forfeiture.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter discussions with the administration and our players and parents, we decided that instead of going against our religious beliefs that \u2026 there are differences between male and female, we are created differently, we decided to forfeit that game and withdraw from the tournament,\u201d he told \u201cFox & Friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan Tucker, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom who is representing Mid-Vermont Christian, accused the principals association of trying to silence dissent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state is basically attempting to purge individuals like Chris and other family members in the state, from public discourse, from the ability \u2026 to speak out \u2026 on issues of significant, public concern,\u201d he said on \u201cFox & Friends.\u201d<\/p>\n He accused the state of failing to consider \u201cthe biological reality\u201d and the health and safety risks to female athletes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very confident that we\u2019re going to prevail,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This article appeared originally on The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Coach at Christian School Banned After It Refused Game Against Opponent with Trans Player Defends Decision<\/a> appeared first on The Gateway Pundit<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A basketball coach at a Vermont private school that was banned by the state\u2019s schools association after it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n