A girls’ basketball team in Vermont has been banned from competing after its decision to forfeit a game to a team with a male student.
The Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA), the entity in charge of high school sports in the Green Mountain State, wrote a letter Monday banning Mid Vermont Christian School from competing after it apparently violated policies related to a “commitment to racial, gender-fair, and disability awareness” and “gender identity.”
“The VPA again reiterates its ongoing support of transgender student-athletes as not only a part of building an inclusive community for each student to grow and thrive, but also as a clear expectation by Vermont state law(s) in the Agency of Education Best Practices, and in VPA Policy regarding transgender student athletes,” the letter stated.
“The prohibition against discrimination includes discrimination based on a student’s actual or perceived sex and gender,” it continued.
Mid Vermont decided to forfeit a game against Long Trail School, which has a male athlete who identifies as a female, because they believed the presence of the male team member put their players at risk of injury and was unfair.
In a February email to Valley News, Mid Vermont head Vicky Fogg said, “We believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.”
Regarding the ban, Fogg told the New York Post, “Cancelling our membership is not a solution and does nothing to deal with the very real issue of safety and fairness facing women’s sports in our beloved state.”
“We urge the VPA to reconsider its policies, and balance the rights of every athlete in the state,” she continued.
Neither VPA nor Mid Vermont responded to Breitbart News’s request for comment.
The school is banned indefinitely from competing.
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.