The school year has started, but student athletes at Mid Vermont Christian School aren't playing against the local teams they have faced in the past. In March 2023, the school was banned from competing in all activities overseen by the Vermont Principals' Association, which governs interscholastic sports in the state. The VPA imposed the ban after determining Mid Vermont Christian violated the organization's gender identity and nondiscrimination policies by refusing to play against a girls' basketball team that included a transgender player. But the Quechee school wants back in the game. It has filed a lawsuit arguing that it has been discriminated against for its religious beliefs. And the school thinks its athletes should be allowed to compete in state-sanctioned sporting events while the courts consider the case. A federal judge in Vermont denied that request, but last month Alliance Defending Freedom — a well-funded national conservative legal group — appealed to a higher U.S. court. The organization's senior counsel, Ryan Tucker, characterized the ban as a "blatant act of discrimination and hostility" and urged the court to "uphold constitutional protections by guaranteeing the school can fully participate while still adhering to its religious beliefs." Vermont, which protects students' right to play on a team based on their gender identity, isn't alone in grappling with this culture-war issue. Since 2021, more than two dozen states have passed laws barring transgender students from sports teams that align with their gender identity. In New Hampshire, two transgender athletes challenged their state's ban, and a U.S. District Court judge recently issued an emergency order that allows them to participate. While these cases are still wending through the court system, their outcomes could have far-reaching implications for what has become a contentious, politicized issue nationwide. "When you see these cases being litigated in lots of different jurisdictions, it's not uncommon for one or several of them to move up through the system and ultimately end up at the U.S. Supreme Court," said Jared Carter, a law professor at the Vermont Law & Graduate School. According to its website, Mid Vermont, which has about 100 students in pre-K through 12th grade, was created in 1987 by a group of parents who believed that God told them to start a school. It espouses a "Christ-centric" education with "the Word of God ... integrated into each classroom and each subject." The State Board of Education…