The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that a transgender politician did not mislead voters when she ran for public office as a woman.

The story as reported in the New York Times says that Michelle Bruce, who was born Michael Bruce, is the first openly transgender politician in Georgia. Bruce had served on the Riverdale Council for four years, but lost her bid for re-election in a run-off last year. Two of her opponents, Georgia Fuller and Stan Harris, who also lost, filed the lawsuit to request another election, claiming that Bruce has disguised her gender during her re-election campaign. However, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Ms. Bruce’s use of the name Michelle on ballots did not “cast doubt on the results of the election.”

After the court ruling, Bruce made a statement praising the open-mindedness of the judges. “This is a great victory for me and anyone who believes in equality,” said Bruce. “It gives me hope that the Georgia Supreme Court did what was right and did not buy into hate-based politics.”

A legal expert interviewed by the New York Times also applauded the decision, saying– “The ruling is the first in the nation to address whether a politician lies to the public by running as a transgender candidate.”

Still, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that Bruce misled voters, in what was a very female populated voting district, by claiming to be a woman. In the lawsuit, the complaint refers to Bruce as a being male.

“We maintain that Mr. Bruce misled the voters into believing that he was a female,” said the plaintiff’s counsel. “He got more female votes than he would have if he hadn’t used a fictitious name.”

In the end, some of Bruce’s supporters believe the lawsuit cost her the election, as it brought national news media attention to Ms. Bruce’s sex change, and influenced many voters to select her opponent in the runoff, Wayne Franklin Hall.