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. 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. Wyatt Rolla, the ACLU of Virginia’s senior transgender rights attorney, rejected the claim of a set-up.

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Persons: Ellenor Zinski, Butler Curwood, Phuong Tran, Jerry Falwell, Jerry Falwell Jr, Zinski, ”, Mat Staver, Wyatt Rolla, Virginia’s, “, ” Zinski, — Organizations: Liberty University, Christian, American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Technology, U.S . Civil, Liberty, Civil, Trinity Episcopal Church, AP Liberty University, Liberty Counsel’s, Associated Press Locations: Virginia, Richmond, Lynchburg, Phuong, Lynchburg , Virginia