Trans woman sues ultra-conservative Liberty University for firing her after she came out

A transgender woman is suing ultra-conservative Liberty University for sex discrimination after she was fired from her job as an information technology (IT) specialist.

Ellenor Zinski began working at the Christian college—located in Lynchburg, Virginia —in 2023. She earned high marks at her 90-day performance review, and her supervisor told her she was on a “path to success,” according to a lawsuit filed on Zinski’s behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia.

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The following week, Zinski informed the school’s Human Resources department that she was in the process of transitioning, had begun taking hormone replacement therapy, and asked that her name be changed on her employment record.

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For weeks, Zinski didn’t receive a response. She felt terrified about possible persecution following her request.

“Ellenor’s anxiety about being discriminated against at work was so intense that she sometimes vomited,” the lawsuit said. “She used a tucked-away bathroom whose hallway’s exposed insulation meant it was rarely trafficked, and even during hot weather, she wore a branded Liberty jacket to deflect unwanted attention to her body.”

A month later, Zinski was called into a meeting with the heads of Liberty’s human resources (HR) and IT departments.

She was fired on the spot.

“Liberty University officials read a termination notice aloud to Ellenor citing ‘denying biological and chromosomal sex assigned at birth’ as the basis for her termination, stating a conflict with Liberty’s Doctrinal Statement that names ‘denial of birth sex by self-identification with a different gender’ as a ‘sinful act prohibited by God,'” the lawsuit states.

The ACLU says those grounds for termination are illegal.

“No matter your religious beliefs, it’s illegal sex discrimination to fire employees because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said ACLU of Virginia Dunn Legal Fellow Samantha Westrum. “Just because Liberty University has decided it wants to operate by a so-called ‘doctrinal statement’ doesn’t mean it’s not bound by federal law.”

The suit says Liberty’s actions violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees from workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County ruled that anti-LGBTQ+ workplace discrimination is a form of sex-based discrimination forbidden by federal law.

The ACLU says Liberty University “made it clear” that Zinski was fired for being transgender.

The plaintiff said in a statement she is a practicing Christian and worships at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Lynchburg where she feels welcome, both as a Christian and a trans woman.

“The first time anyone ever supported me by telling me that God made me this way was at Trinity Episcopal Church,” Zinski said. “Christianity has been so weaponized against the LGBTQ community, but there doesn’t need to be a conflict: You can be transgender and Christian. I am.”

The ACLU is seeking compensatory and punitive damages on Zinski’s behalf in the amount of $300,000, along with “declaratory relief that Liberty University’s policy violates Title VII.”

Liberty University was founded in 1971 by televangelist Jerry Falwell and is a notorious repository of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. The school’s code of conduct, known as The Liberty Way, was updated in 2021 to make Liberty even more unwelcoming to LGBTQ+ students and staff than it already had been.

“Sexual relations outside of a biblically-ordained marriage between a natural-born man and a natural-born woman are not permissible at Liberty University,” an excerpt from the code of conduct reads. “While mental thoughts, temptations and states of mind are not regulated by The Liberty Way, statements and behaviors that are associated with LGBT states of mind are prohibited.”

Among other higher institutions of higher learning, there is disdain for Liberty’s hostile treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2022, the University of Massachusetts scheduled its Pride Day celebration to coincide with a home football game hosting the Christian school.

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