A Christian school that was punished for refusing to play against a transathlete has won a settlement from the State of Vermont.
In 2023, The Gateway Pundit reported that Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) withdrew from Vermont’s Division IV basketball tournament due to a biological male being on the opposing team.
MVCS head of school Vicky Fogg explained in a statement it was unfair and unsafe for the high school girls to play against a biological male.
Following the forfeiture, the school was banned from participating in sporting events going forward. In addition, the school was banned from participating in all VPA-sanctioned activities, not only athletics but also extracurricular competitions such as drama and debate, as well as science and math fairs.
In November 2023, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys filed a lawsuit against Vermont officials on behalf of the school. A district court denied the school’s injunction request that would have allowed it readmission into the VPA for all sports, so ADF appealed the case to the 2nd Circuit and, in September 2025, the 2nd Circuit ruled in favor of Mid Vermont Christian.
“The VPA likely violated Mid Vermont’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion because its consideration of Mid Vermont’s case was not neutral,” the ruling reads.
The court went on to explain: “[the VPA] acted with hostility toward Mid Vermont’s religious beliefs. The VPA’s Executive Director publicly castigated Mid Vermont—and religious schools generally—while the VPA rushed to judgment on whether and how to discipline the school. In upholding the expulsion, the VPA doubled down on that hostility by challenging the legitimacy of the school’s religious beliefs.
And … the punishment imposed was unprecedented, overbroad, and procedurally irregular. Those facts strongly support the inference that Mid Vermont’s religious objection ‘was not considered with the neutrality that the Free Exercise Clause requires.’
Now, Fox News reports that State education agencies in Vermont have settled with the school for over $566,000.
Hellbound and Down 