A California trial court has approved the California Baptist University's decision to expel a transgender student over violation of school's policies in August 2011.
The University officials expelled Domaine Javier, a 24-year-old man living as a woman since the age of 13, for lying about his gender on his application paperwork. Javier applied to the university's nursing program in 2011 as a transfer from Riverside City College. He checked a box, indicating his gender status as 'female' on the admission application.
The university discovered his true status when Javier appeared on an episode of MTV's "True Life" reality show where he admitted to being born as a biological male.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Javier told Press Enterprise. "They said, 'On your application form you put female.' And I was like, 'Yeah, that's how I see myself.'"
The university expelled him from the program for fraud violations and concealing his identity.
Later, Javier sued the school for wrongful expulsion. Javier's attorneys claimed that CBU violated California's Unruh Civil Rights Act that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Superior Court Judge Gloria Connor Trask said that CBU is not a "business establishment" and therefore, has not violated the Act, Christian Post reports.
Besides backing University's decision, the court also awarded $4,000 in damages to the plaintiff for being barred from school's public places like library and restaurants.
Trask said that CBU's off-campus business operations like restaurants, theater, and libraries qualify as "business establishments" which are subject to the provisions of the Act.
