Full Court Press: Mid Vermont Christian School Asks for Religious Freedom Protections

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A private school in Vermont is asking a federal court to stop the state’s athletic association from penalizing the school after the school’s girls’ basketball team forfeited a game against a team with a male athlete who identifies as a female.

The following is from our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom regarding the case:

Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) was punished by Vermont officials after it chose not to violate its beliefs.

Read more: https://adflegal.org/article/vermont-…

Coach Chris Goodwin and the MVCS girls’ basketball team decided to forfeit a game rather than force its girls to play against a team with a male. MVCS believes that God uniquely created everyone either male or female with distinct characteristics and that sex cannot be changed, so participation would propagate a lie. Facilitating a girls’ basketball game in which a male plays would have forced MVCS to violate its beliefs.

But the Vermont Principals Association (VPA), Vermont’s state sports association, punished MVCS by barring it from participating in all VPA sports and activities, not just girls’ basketball. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of MVCS challenging Vermont’s religious discrimination.

After a federal district court’s unfavorable ruling, ADF appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. We presented oral argument before the 2nd Circuit on April 9, 2025.

Mid Vermont Christian School v. Saunders case details: https://adflegal.org/case/mid-vermont…

Stories like this one are part of the reason Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) in 2021 to prevent male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

We have written time and again about how women’s athletics is at risk of being erased in America.

Female cyclists, swimmers, powerlifters, sprinters, volleyball players, and others have seen their sports radically changed by men who claim to be women.

Letting men compete in women’s sports is unfair. It reverses 50 years of advancements for women, and in some cases it can even be dangerous.

Earlier this year President Trump signed an executive order that helps protects women and girls from being forced to compete against men. It also protects women’s right to privacy in locker rooms, showers, changing areas, and similar facilities, and it directs federal officials to withdraw funding from educational programs that “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.”

We appreciate our policymakers who work hard to protect fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas and across the country, and we appreciate our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom who are standing up for women and girls in federal court.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Parents Know Best When It Comes To Their Kids’ Education

Religious Freedom,

The following is from our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom.

Oklahoma should be able to choose the best schools for its charter-school program, and the Constitution prevents the state from excluding schools from that program simply because they are religious.

Oklahoma law creates a charter-school program, and it invites private organizations to apply to operate charter schools in the state—except state law says religious groups cannot participate. But when St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School applied to operate a virtual charter school in Oklahoma, the Statewide Charter School Board faced a choice: deny the otherwise-qualified application as state law said or do what the First Amendment requires and approve the school. After then-Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor advised the board members that the ban on religious organizations participating in the charter-school program is likely unconstitutional, the Board approved the school in June 2023.

Current Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond disagreed with that decision, so he sued the Charter School Board. ADF represents the Board. After the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against the Board and ordered it to exclude St. Isidore, the Board appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On January 24, 2025, the high court agreed to hear the case. The case will be argued on April 30 and likely decided in June.

This case is about educational freedom, empowering parents, and equal treatment of religious people and groups. Parents deserve more choices for their children’s education. Different children flourish in different environments, and providing a wide variety of options allows parents to choose the best education for their children. People of faith deserve options that align with their faith. It is discriminatory to allow charter-school options for parents who believe in Montessori education, for example, while forbidding charter-school options for religious parents who want their children educated consistent with their faith.

Learn more about the Supreme Court case Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond: https://adflegal.org/drummond

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Governor Signs Religious Freedom Bill into Law

Religious Freedom,
Above: Sen. Stubblefield and Rep. Lundstrum present H.B. 1615 in committee. The bill passed at the Arkansas Legislature, and Gov. Sanders signed it into law last week.

Last week Gov. Sanders announced that she had signed a good religious freedom bill into law.

H.B. 1615 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R — Elm Springs) and Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R — Branch) will help ensure that religious organizations and religious individuals are not penalized for living out their deeply held religious convictions.

This good law is especially important for people who have religious convictions about biological sex and marriage.

Over the years, wedding venues, bakeries, photography studios, florist shops, and others have been dragged into court simply because their owners wanted to operate according to their deeply held convictions.

Nobody should be forced to choose between their religious convictions and their livelihood, and nobody should be punished for obeying their conscience. H.B. 1615 will help prevent the government from burdening the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

Family Council wants to thank Rep. Lundstrum and Sen. Stubblefield for sponsoring H.B. 1615. We appreciate the General Assembly passing this measure, and we are grateful to Gov. Sanders for signing it into law.

Arkansas has a longstanding tradition of affirming and protecting the free exercise of religion. H.B. 1615 is a good law that will help the state continue to do exactly that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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