By Michael Bielawski
Concern for freedom of speech and support for girls’ sports are highlighted in legal action taken against transgender activism in Vermont schools. Also, more information has surfaced about apparent media censorship demanded by the transgender advocacy group Outright Vermont. Here’s a roundup.
Christian school banned from competitions
Mid-Vermont Christian Academy has a lawsuit against the Vermont Principals Association because they banned the school from participating in state sports or academic competitions over a transgender-related controversy.
What happened was in early 2023 the Christian school forfeited a game with Long Trail School over their male athlete on a girl’s basketball team.
In an update on Fox News recently, the coach and his lawyer detailed that they are confident they will win their lawsuit.
The lawsuit says that the state “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’s tuitioning program and the State’s athletic association.”
On Thursday, it was reported that Long Trail went all the way to the state championship this year with a male athlete playing at center. There have been lots of reactions on X to the game, which Long Trail lost just by 3 points in overtime.
@checkmark9001 wrote, “Shame on Vermont for putting girls in danger, allowing males in girls sports, displacing a girl for a male on a girls’ team, teaching students cheating and lying is acceptable, destroying girls’ hopes & dreams and destroying girls’ history for everyone.”
Another by @Denise13F said, “No surprise here, my bet is on the boys team to take the girls champion pin. If you want coed go coed, you want women or girls go women or go girls, if you want boys or men go… well you get the picture! But girls against boys for competition is unfair play. Shame on Vermont.”
Fired snowboard coach wins lawsuit
Also, a longtime Woodstock snowboarding coach David Bloch who was fired last year for joining in a brief discussion with team members about transgender athletes has settled an unlawful discharge lawsuit. He won $75,000 against the Vermont Principals’ Association and the Vermont Agency of Education.
Bloch said that boys have an advantage over girls in sports due to their bone structure and testosterone, which is reportedly all it took for his troubles to begin.
Similar to past lawsuits in Vermont involving transgender-related conflicts in sports, the public will pay the bill for this failed effort to promote the transgender movement.
“The payments will be made on behalf of the school district, the VPA, and the Vermont AOE, Matthew W. Hoffmann, an attorney with ADF, said,” reported VDC.
WCAX takes down report
WCAX had reported on a transgender-related sports controversy, but an activist group asked the media company to take down the report and they complied.
First published on March 3, 2023, the story covers the Randolph High School girls’ volleyball team which was banned from its locker room while the school investigated a conflict involving a transgender member on their team.
One of the students, Blake Allen, told WCAX, “I feel like for stating my opinion — that I don’t want a biological man changing with me — that I should not have harassment charges or bullying charges.”
When the group Outright Vermont insisted that they take the report down and apologize, WCAX promptly did both despite no evidence nor accusations that anything in the story was factually inaccurate.
Outright Vermont then continued to shame WCAX, saying the media outlet didn’t go far enough in condemning its report. The original report which has since disappeared from WCAX can be read here.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle