A transgender woman alleges that new U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr expressed anti-LGBTQ bias in the past, and he should have recused himself from her case, but improperly refused to step down.

Valerie Jackson of Dallas appealed Thursday, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to step in and recuse Starr, one of the newest judges on the Dallas federal court in the Northern District of Texas. Confirmed to his bench in July, Starr used to be deputy first assistant attorney general of Texas, where he supervised almost two dozen divisions in the Texas Office of the Attorney General.