State by State · No law protecting girls’ sports
Vermont has no law protecting girls' sports; its school sports association lets males who identify as girls play on girls' teams. A Christian school that forfeited rather than play against a male athlete won its case and a $566,000 settlement in 2026.
The law in Vermont
State policy allows males on girls' teams
The law in detail, with sources
The law
No state law protecting the female category. The Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA) and the Agency of Education let students play on teams matching their gender identity, relying on the Vermont Public Accommodations Act and the Agency’s best-practices guidance on transgender students (Vermont Public; VTDigger).
Who it covers
VPA-sanctioned school sports statewide.
Notes
After the February 2025 federal executive order, the VPA kept its policy; in 2026 it was still allowing participation by gender identity (VTDigger opinion, July 2026; Seven Days). In January 2026 the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened a Title IX investigation of Champlain Valley School District for following the state policy (VTDigger). The VPA had expelled Mid Vermont Christian School in 2023 after its girls’ basketball team forfeited rather than play a team with a male player; the Second Circuit sided with the school in September 2025, and in April 2026 the VPA agreed to pay $566,000 in damages and fees (Vermont Public). The June 30, 2026 Supreme Court ruling allows but does not require states to protect girls’ sports (Lambda Legal FAQ).
Athletes in ICONS-backed lawsuits
- Caroline Hill, track, Rochester Institute of Technology, from Vermont · Gaines v. NCAA