Girls’ school pulls out of basketball tournament because rivals had trans player
The team withdrew from the competition because its rival had a trans player. (Credit: Getty Images)
A girls’ high school basketball team in Vermont has forfeited a tournament rather than play the opposing team that included a trans player.
Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) was due to play Long Trail School on 21 February, but forfeited the game because they believed playing a transgender student wasn’t fair.
When asked to comment on the choice to pull out of the tournament, the head of the Christian school misgendered the player from Long Trail, a co-educational college for students from sixth to twelfth grade.
“We withdrew from the tournament because we believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardises the fairness of the game and the safety of our players,” Vicky Fogg told PinkNews.
“Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general.”
PinkNews contacted Long Trail for comment, but has received no response.
Although a number of states across the US have enacted bans on trans students taking part in school teams that don’t match their birth gender, Vermont is not one of them
The Vermont Principals’ Association has advised pupils in the state are able to participate in athletic activities “in a manner consistent with their gender identity”.
After a similar dispute in October, in which a school raised complaints about a trans student using the girls’ changing room, a story which quickly escalated into staff receiving death threats, the governor of Vermont called for calm.
According to NECN, Republican Phil Scott said: “We all have an obligation to dial down the rhetoric. We have to be open-minded, understanding, with empathy… and to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, and try to take the hate out of the entire situation.”
Experts have claimed that bans on trans people taking part in sports are “unscientific” and would “deny trans youth a childhood”.
