Christian coach fired for expressing beliefs about clear gender distinctions.

A former high school snowboarding coach filed a federal lawsuit last week alleging his First Amendment rights⁢ were violated when he was fired for expressing his views on transgender-identifying athletes.

The 31-page complaint was ‍filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont by Alliance Defending ​Freedom (ADF) — a faith-based legal advocacy group — on behalf ‍of David Bloch,⁢ along with a motion for preliminary injunction seeking⁤ Bloch’s immediate reinstatement.

“On February ⁢8, 2023, Coach Bloch and his⁢ team were ⁣waiting in ​the lodge for​ a competition to⁢ start. That day, his ⁢team was to compete against a team that had a male snowboarder who identifies as⁤ a female and competes against females,” the lawsuit states. While in the lodge,⁣ Bloch says he overheard a conversation between two of his student-athletes and briefly⁢ joined ​in.

Bloch “affirmed that as ​a matter of biology, males and females have different DNA,⁤ which⁣ causes males to develop differently from females and ⁣have different⁣ physical characteristics.” He added that “biological ​differences generally give males competitive advantages in athletic events” — something you must pretend‌ is ‌ deeply controversial, despite ⁣the⁤ fact that a large majority of Americans agree.

According to a new Gallup survey released in⁤ June, nearly 70 percent of U.S. adults ‌believe transgender-identifying athletes “should only be ​allowed to compete on ‍sports teams‌ that conform with ‍their birth gender” as opposed to their “current gender identity.” Meanwhile, a Pew Research Center study ‌from​ last⁢ year found that 6 in 10 Americans “say ⁢a person’s gender ⁤is determined by their sex assigned at birth.”

“The ‌conversation was ‍respectful among all parties and lasted ‍no more than three minutes. It took place entirely outside the presence​ of ⁤the transgender-identifying snowboarder,” the ‍lawsuit states. “Coach‍ Bloch’s team and​ the team ⁢with the male who identifies as a⁢ female⁣ competed without incident. After the competition, the two teams and their‌ coaches, including Coach Bloch, shared ‌a bus home.”

But it didn’t matter. Bloch had ‌committed wrongthink.

The coach ‌was allegedly handed a notice of termination the very next​ day by Windsor Central Supervisory Union ‌Superintendent Sherry Sousa. He was accused of violating the school district’s harassment, hazing, and⁤ bullying (HHB) ‌policy as well as a related policy of the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA), which oversees high ⁢school sports in the state.

Bloch was also ​“barred from future employment” with the district.

“No one‍ should lose their job⁢ for speaking the ‌truth. The First Amendment protects the rights of all ⁤Americans to peacefully share their beliefs without fear of government punishment. This means that government officials cannot terminate an employee simply because he expresses a belief that they do not like,” ADF said in a statement.

Specifically, the lawsuit⁤ argues that the ⁣HBB and VPA policies, as well as a Vermont statute requiring school boards to adopt such policies, ​“contain content and viewpoint discriminatory, overbroad, and⁤ unconstitutionally vague definitions‍ of harassment that …​ censor protected speech.”

The complaint notes that Bloch is “a practicing Roman Catholic​ who believes⁢ that God creates ⁢males and females with ​immutable sex. His understanding ⁢of science complements his religious beliefs. Coach ⁣Bloch believes, based on scientific evidence, that there are only two sexes, ‌which are male and female, and​ that sex is determined by a ‍person’s chromosomes.”

Views like these ⁤terrify elites and the corporate press. In a‌ May article, The Washington Post bemoaned that “Most Americans don’t believe it’s even possible to be ⁤a gender that differs from that assigned at birth” ⁢and worried that (God forbid) some in the country “have become more conservative on these questions.”

It’s worth highlighting the irony that those​ requiring you to deny the reality of sex today are often ⁢the very same⁢ people who spent the past three years demanding you “follow the science!” ⁢

Suffice to say, these are ⁣not good-faith actors; ‍they’re liars and propagandists interested only in advancing a political agenda. Regard them as such.