▶ Stay up to date with the latest U.S. news by signing up to our WhatsApp channel.
Emails seeking comment were sent to Mid Vermont and the Vermont Principals Association. The Vermont Secretary of Education’s office, which is also named in the lawsuit, declined to comment due to the ongoing litigation.
A lower district court in 2024 ruled in the state’s favor, arguing that the executive council applies the athletic policy uniformly and doesn’t target religious organizations for enforcement or discrimination.
However, the appeals court disagreed. The appellate court argued that the state was “hostile to Mid Vermont’s religious views” and declared the outright ban on participating in sports and non-athletic activities “unprecedented, overbroad, and procedurally irregular.”
Specifically, the court took issue with the VPA’s executive director, Jay Nichols, who testified before a Vermont legislative committee in favor of legislation to ban public funding to religious schools just days after Mid Vermont forfeited the game in 2023.
Nichols told lawmakers “thank goodness the student in question didn’t attend that religious school” and said Vermont shouldn’t condone such discrimination.
“Put simply, the VPA may not impose discipline based on its view that Mid Vermont’s religious objection was ‘wrong,’” the court ruled.
The ongoing case is the latest development in the ongoing debate over transgender athletes participating in public school sports. The Trump administration has pressed states to block transgender youth from participating in girls sports.
Currently, at least 26 states have laws on the books barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls sports competitions. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider the constitutionality of the bans in its coming term.
