RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A transgender woman has filed a lawsuit after she was expelled from a Christian university after she revealed in an episode of MTV’s “True Life” that she is biologically male.

The Nashua Telegraph reports that Stacie Laughton, a Democrat, beat out two Republican candidates for one of three seats in the state's House of Representatives in Ward 4. In the interview, Laughton told the Telegraph's Joseph G. Cote that she hopes her victory will inspire other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) candidates in both local and national politics.

The Civil Rights Agenda, a Chicago-based LGBT rights and policy advocacy group, announced Sunday the launch of a new project that will bring greater focus to advancing the rights of transgender and gender-variant communities in Illinois.

“We at The Civil Rights Agenda believe that we are at a tipping point in terms of transgender rights,” stated Anthony Martinez, executive director of TCRA. “It is our belief that we should push the rights of transgender individuals to the forefront of the LGBTQ policy agenda in Illinois.”

ATLANTA -- The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a lower court ruling that the Georgia General Assembly discriminated against Vandy Beth Glenn, a transgender woman who was fired from her job as Legislative Editor after she told her supervisor that she planned to transition from male to female.