California Baptist University Sued by Transgender Student for Expelling Him

Domaine Javier had been accepted into the school's nursing program for the fall of 2011, but the university retracted the acceptance after he revealed that he was transgender in an episode of MTV's "True Life." The university said he was expelled for "committing or attempting to engage in fraud, or concealing of identity."

This week Javier filed a lawsuit in Riverside, Calif., against the Southern Baptist school, claiming it violated California's civil rights act and breached its contract. He claims he lost about $500,000 in scholarships and future wages because of the expulsion, since he had to delay his career plan for a year. He had received a $3,500 dean's academic scholarship from the school.

In the nursing program application, Javier was asked to check either male or female, and he checked female, even though he had been born a male. Javier said he had identified himself as a female since he was a toddler and started presenting himself as a girl at 13. She had attended Catholic schools in the Philippines before immigrating to California ten years ago.

Javier's lawyer, Paul Southwick, said he did not lie about his gender because he identifies as female. He also claims that Javier did not break the school's contract because it did not specifically mention transgender students.