Canadian Christian basketball team responds to transgender's 'abuse' allegations

As OutKick reported on Thursday, Vancouver Island University's women's basketball team refused to play against PACWEST conference opponent Columbia Bible College, alleging that the Christian school created an unsafe environment because VIU has a transgender player. 

Vancouver Island released a statement saying that its players don't feel safe playing at Columbia Bible College. 

"Intimidation, harassment, and discrimination have no place in athletics," the statement read, according to Fox News. "VIU stands in full support of our student-athletes and affirms the right of all athletes to compete in an environment that prioritizes their safety and well-being."

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CBC immediately denied the allegations that they created an unsafe environment, and countered by saying that they had put measures in place for additional security for the games against VIU. 

The "intimidation, harassment and discrimination" allegations stem from multiple incidents in late October when the two teams first played one another this season. 

Vancouver Island transgender player, Harriette Mackenzie, said in an Instagram video that the CBC coach, Taylor Clagett, went on a "tirade" to a VIU staffer complaining about the team having a male on its women's basketball team. 

Mackenzie, who leads VIU in points, rebounds and blocks and is the tallest player on the team, further said that CBC players attempted to injure the transgender athlete with purposeful flagrant fouls. 

The players from the Christian school released a statement of their own, signed by every player, defending their head coach and denying the accusations made by Mackenzie and VIU. 

"Coach Claggett has repeatedly shown respect for all athletes from many backgrounds throughout her career as a youth and college coach. We have the privilege of interacting with Coach Claggett on a daily basis and know that the concerns she has voiced are rooted in a care for the safety of her team," the statement, which was sent to OutKick, said. 

"The attack on Coach Claggett’s character, and the character of our team, over the past three months has been based on misinformation and one side of a complicated scenario." 

Normally, in this situation, those games would count as forfeit losses for Vancouver Island, the #5 team in the CCAA. However, the PACWEST decided to simply postpone those games for the time being, something that Columbia Bible College said represented a double-standard. 

"In the past, when a team has refused to participate and travel to a scheduled game, they have received 0 points in the classification. By postponing the games this weekend, PacWest has contradicted the standard operating procedure. There has been no clear rationale provided to our team to justify this departure from normal procedures," the statement said. 

It seems clear that Coach Claggett doesn't believe that biological men, like Mackenzie, should be competing in women's sports. That's the majority opinion of most American citizens, although Canada tends to lean more left than the United States, so perhaps there are fewer citizens who hold that common-sense belief in the neighboring country. 

But the picture painted by the CBC players isn't unlike the one often seen in American sports when women stand up for themselves and their sports and demand that biological males compete against other males and not against females. They're faced with harassment and calls of "bigotry" for simply wanting fair competition. 

It's unfortunate that the players and the coach have faced "derogatory messages" for their stance, but that's the reality. And, as CBC pointed out, the PACWEST appeared to show favoritism towards VIU, likely because the conference fears backlash from the trans mafia if they don't comply with their demands.

That's how these people often get their way. They use bullying tactics to force opponents into silence. But the players for Columbia Bible College decided not to be quiet. Good for them. 

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