An article in Friday’s Washington Post reports the decision of Grace Brethren Christian school to leave its athletic conference early because of the league’s allowance of transgender athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender identities. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete article. Grace Brethren Christian School is a ministry of the Grace Brethren Church, Clinton, Md. (Irv Clark, pastor).
Maryland high school leaves athletic conference over transgender policy
For Grace Brethren Christian School, a small independent school in southern Prince George’s County with students ranging from prekindergarten to 12th grade, the decision to leave its athletic conference was initially made after it grew tired of the long travel to many of its sporting events.
But in December, it accelerated the departure. Instead of leaving in the spring as originally scheduled, the school made an expedited exit from the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC) because of the league’s allowance of transgender athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender identities.
George Hornickel, Grace Brethren’s school director, wrote in an email that the “transgender issue” is what pushed up the move, citing the school’s Christian principles. He added: “[Schools] that allow boys to play on girls’ teams is a form of cheating [and] it gives them an advantage over girls teams who only play female athletes.”
Click here to read the complete article.