A court is hearing China’s first transgender discrimination case in what activists describe as a landmark legal battle they hope will advance the LGBT cause in the country. The plaintiff, a 28-year-old transgender man and LGBT activist who asked to be named only as Chen, claims he was hired by a healthcare provider in the south-western city of Guiyang last April only to be dismissed one week later because he had worn men’s clothes. In an article published in the Guiyang Evening News last month a manager at the clinic, the Ciming Health Checkup Centre, suggested Chen had been sacked because he was transgender. “Chen’s appearance really didn’t fit our standards,” the manager was quoted as saying. On Monday Chen and his lawyer, Huang Sha, presented a claim for compensation of about 2,000 yuan (about £215 ) – the equivalent to five weeks’ pay – to a work tribunal in Guiyang on the grounds that he had been unfairly dismissed. Chen also demanded a written apology from the company. Campaigners say the hearing represents the first time a Chinese court has heard a case involving transgender rights. “I wanted to defend my own rights and to receive the respect that I deserve,” Chen told the Guardian. “I also want to use this case to teach LGBT people how to defend our own rights and give ourselves a voice … What we need is a harmonious and mutually respectful society.” China’s legal profession is currently reeling from a major government crackdown on its once vibrant community of civil rights lawyers who were known for attempting to use the constitution to defend citizens’ liberties and rights. However, a succession of LGBT court cases, including Monday’s, suggests at least some space remains for Chinese citizens who seek to safeguard their rights through the country’s legal system. On Wednesday a court in the city of Changsha is expected to hear the first case in which two plaintiffs demand the right to perform a gay marriage in China. Last November a university student called Qiu Bai took the Ministry of Education to court over the propagation of homophobic material in state-sanctioned school textbooks. Nearly two decades since homosexuality was decriminalised in China, in 1997, activists say huge advances have been made in the fight against discrimination but say widespread prejudice against the country’s LGBT community remains. Last month Beijing banned any depiction of gay people on Chinese television as part of a cultural clampdown on what authorities called “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content”. Chen, the transgender activist, said his goal was not to receive financial compensation from his former bosses but to “enlighten” the company and others like it so that they would respect the diversity of their staff in the future. He said his former employer’s human resources department had humiliated the company with its prejudiced decision to fire him because of his appearance. A female employee who answered the phone at the Ciming Health Checkup Centre on Tuesday declined to comment on the case. “I am not able to answer your question,” she said, declining to give her name. A ruling is expected later this month. Additional reporting by Christy Yao
A Chinese court is set to hear the country’s first case involving transgender rights. The case has been brought by a 28-year old transgender man and LGBT activist known only as Chen who claims to have been dismissed by his employer for wearing men’s clothes. Chen is seeking compensation for unfair dismissal and a written apology from the company. In another case this week, a court will also hear China's first case involving the right to gay marriage.