The bitter nationwide debate over transgender rights is playing out on a very personal level in a federal court lawsuit filed in Virginia by a former Liberty University employee. She was fired by the evangelical Christian school after disclosing her identity as a transgender woman.
The lawsuit on behalf of Ellenor Zinski was filed in July by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the Richmond law firm of Butler Curwood. It alleges that she was fired last year from her job on Liberty's Information Technology help desk solely because of her gender identify, in violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Earlier this month, the conservative legal organization Liberty Counsel filed a brief on behalf of the university asking the federal district court to dismiss the lawsuit. The brief contends that the Civil Rights Act explicitly permits religious educational institutions to make employment decisions consistent with their religious doctrine - in this case a doctrinal statement asserting that "denial of birth sex by self-identification with a different gender" is sinful.
Liberty University, based in Lynchburg, Virginia, has evolved over its five-decade history into one of the largest Christian universities in the world, with more than 100,000 students enrolled in its residential and online programs. One of its co-founders was the late Jerry Falwell Sr., the prominent televangelist and conservative activist his son, Jerry Falwell Jr. , served as president for 13 years before resigning in 2020 amid a series of personal scandals.
The brief filed by Liberty Counsel alleges that Zinski attempted to 'set up" the university, applying for the IT job four months after beginning to take female hormones yet agreeing - when offered the job in February 2023 - to adhere to the school's statement rejecting transgender transition.
