By RACHEL D’ORO
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A federal judge in Alaska will hear arguments Friday in a lawsuit filed by a faith-based Anchorage women’s shelter against the city over a requirement that it accept transgender women.

Conservative Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the city from applying its gender identity law to the Hope Center shelter. Plaintiffs say homeless shelters are exempt from the local law.

The shelter operators filed a federal lawsuit against the city and its Equal Rights Commission in August, months after a transgender woman complained to the commission that she was denied entry at the shelter.

The city maintains the November injunction filing was premature because the commission’s investigation had not been concluded, largely because of the shelter’s noncooperation. The investigation is on hold.