The girls’ basketball team at a Christian school in the US state of Vermont sent a strong statement recently when they decided to forfeit a tournament due to their refusal to play against an opponent with a transgender athlete.

Mid Vermont Christian (MVCS) School’s girls’ basketball team was scheduled to play an out-of-state tournament against Long Trail School. However, MVCS chose to forfeit the game due to a transgender player on Long Trail’s team.

“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,” MCVS head of school Vicky Fogg said in a statement.

“Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general,” Fogg added.

In response to the forfeit, the Vermont Principals’ Association, a multi-school organisation that sponsors various sport activities, told the Guardian newspaper that it “reiterates its support for each student”.

According to its policy on gender identity which “supports transgender student athletes”, the VPA is “committed to providing all students with the opportunity to participate in VPA activities in a manner consistent with their gender identity”.

It added that VPA policies “prohibit discrimination and/or harassment of students on school property or at school functions by students or employees. The prohibition against discrimination includes discrimination based on a student’s actual or perceived sex and gender.”

The Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has criticised MVCS’s decision to forfeit the tournament. In a statement to the newspaper, the chapter’s executive director James Lyall said: “All trans students deserve to attend schools where they feel safe in their gender identity and expression. That includes equal opportunity to participate in athletics and access locker rooms, restrooms, and other facilities consistent with their gender identity.”

The LGBTQ+ youth service non-profit Outright Vermont echoed ACLU’s sentiments.

“For a trans youth to be the explicit focus of targeted hate it is unconscionable, and it can wreak extreme havoc on their life. So we are concerned for them and their family,” said Dana Kaplan, Outright Vermont’s executive director.

“This recent issue of forfeiting a game because you disagree with someone’s right to exist is a clear example of what is happening in Vermont and around the country … Let’s be clear, attempts to limit these rights are not only illegal, but actively contribute to a culture of division, bullying and gender policing that makes schools less safe for all youth,” Kaplan added.

In recent years, the inclusion of transgender athletes, especially in girls’ and women’s sports, has been met with pushback from conservatives, with many arguing that transgender athletes have an advantage over cisgender women.

Eighteen states have passed laws that prohibit transgender athletes from taking part in female school sports.