LYNCHBURG, VA – “It was choking. I was drowning, and I was just distracting myself,” Ellenor Zinski said.
Ellenor Zinski has long recognized her identity as a woman, even if others didn’t.
“When it’s you, it’s who you are as a person being rejected, that was just devastating to me,” she said.
In 2023, Zinski was working in IT at Liberty University when she began coming out to coworkers as transgender.
“I knew not everyone would accept me, but if they were willing to get to know me, they would also know my heart,” Zinski said.
“Did you expect to be terminated?” 10 News Anchor Abbie Coleman asked.
“No,” Zinski said.
Liberty says the termination wasn’t about discrimination - but about religious principles.
“Zinski applied at Liberty, was given the doctrinal statement, it’s a very clear doctrinal statement, yet at the same time, was in open rebellion to that,” Liberty Counsel Co-Founder Mat Staver said.
Staver alleges the situation was a setup.
“This case reeks of fraud from the very beginning. It was an attempt from the very beginning to take down Liberty University and that’s why the ACLU jumped on this case early on. We’re not going to stand by and watch that happen,” he said
“To hear Liberty portray you that way, how does that make you feel?” Coleman asked Zinski.
“If there was any deception, I think the extremely fundamentalist and conservative views of the religion taught me to be deceptive to myself. To not listen to who I am, to push down the parts of me that don’t fit their cookie-cutter mold,” Zinski said.
Earlier this week, the case went before a federal appeals court.
Zinski’s ACLU attorney, Wyatt Rolla, says Liberty first tried to have the case dismissed, but a trial judge denied that request.
Liberty then appealed that decision.
“It’s incredibly important that people understand that gender identity is protected, and people cannot be fired for being transgender,” Rolla said.
But Staver says they’re ready to take the case to the Supreme Court if necessary.
“We intend to win at the high court and create legal precedent that will last for generations. That will protect not only Liberty University, but all faith-based employers across the country,” Staver said.
Zinski has since left the country, citing concerns for her safety and acceptance, and says she wants people to better understand what it means to be transgender.
“Being trans is not a fad, it’s not a fetish. It is who we are,” she said.