Charlamagne tha God defends girls basketball team punished for refusing to play against trans female
Radio host said school's decision to not play team with trans player 'sounds like common sense to me'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Radio host Charlamagne tha God defended a Vermont Christian girls high school basketball team after it was banned from future state tournaments for refusing to play against a team with a trans athlete on its roster.
During a recent episode of his popular radio show, "The Breakfast Club," the host responded to the news of the ban, saying, "That’s not fair" and claimed the school was right to forfeit the game because it’s "common sense."
Charlamagne and his co-hosts discussed the story, which broke last week, on his show’s "Front Page News" segment.
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Radio host Charlamagne tha God defended a girls school basketball team that refused to play a rival team with a trans athlete on its roster. (Screenshot/Twitter)
As Fox News Digital reported, after Mid Vermont Christian School "forfeited a game in the girls state basketball playoffs because its opponent had a transgender student on the team’s roster," it was "prohibited from participating in future tournaments" by the state’s sports governing body.
As the outlet reported, "The Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA) ruled that Mid Vermont Christian School had violated policies and is ineligible to participate in future tournaments that it sanctions. The move applies to all sports."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The team dropped out of a tournament in February ahead of a game against the female team from Long Trail School. At the time, Mid Vermont Christian’s Head of School Vicky Fogg told Fox News Digital, "We withdrew from the tournament because we believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players. Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general."
The VPA suggested that the school violated state law that protects trans students from discrimination by forfeiting the game.
In a statement, the association said, "The VPA again reiterates its ongoing support of transgender student-athletes as not only a part of building an inclusive community for each student to grow and thrive, but also as a clear expectation by Vermont state law(s) in the Agency of Education Best Practices, and in VPA Policy regarding transgender student athletes."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}People gather in support of transgender youth during a rally at the Utah State Capitol on Jan. 24, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo / Rick Bowmer)
After his co-host read the news story, Charlamagne immediately said, "That’s not fair because that sounds like common sense to me."
"Like we’ve all seen ‘Juwanna Mann.’ We’ve seen ‘Grandmama,’" he continued, pointing out cultural references of male players identifying as females and dominating on the court.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Yeah, I’m just saying, we’ve seen that. That person was probably out there averaging 30 and 20 against them women. C’mon man."
One of the co-hosts provided an anecdote that seemed to be about NCAA champion female swimmer Lia Thomas, who is a biological male. He said, "Remember that swimmer, he was a man, and then he transitioned to a woman, and when he was swimming as a man, he was like No. 80th, and then when he transitioned to a woman, he was No. 1."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That’s my point," Charlamagne said, adding, "Whoever they were playing against, I got to see the stats. If this person is averaging 55 points, 17 rebounds, 22 blocks, I’m not playing against them either. That’s not fair."
A girls high school basketball team was punished by its governing sports body for refusing to play a rival team with a trans female on its roster. (Brett Carlsen / Getty Images / File)