Chinese trans woman brings landmark equal employment rights case over her sacking

Case heard last week as claimant seeks public apology and compensation under 2018 provision added to Chinese law

Significant interest generated by what activists call China’s first lawsuit over transgender employment rights

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Yang poses with a transgender pride flag outside the court in Hangzhou. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:36am, 10 Dec 2019Updated: 10:45am, 10 Dec 2019

Earlier this year, shortly after completing gender-reassignment surgery, a Chinese transgender woman surnamed Yang was sacked from her job, an all-too-common fate for members of the country’s LGBT community.

The reason given for her dismissal was chronic tardiness, but Yang smelled a rat and sued her former employer in what LGBT activists are calling a landmark test of a transgender person seeking redress through a new addition to Chinese law promoting equal employment rights.

Yang, who asked that her full name not be used, to avoid prejudicing her case, had considered her media-company employer to be LGBT-friendly, but said transgender people were still finding acceptance to be elusive.

“A lot of times, people think an LGBT-friendly company or environment is … actually being friendly to homosexuals or gay men, but not friendly to transgender [people],” said Yang, who is in her 30s and introduces herself as “Ms Ma”.

Her case was heard last week in the eastern city of Hangzhou, with Yang seeking a public apology and modest compensation under a 2018 provision added to the law by China’s Supreme People’s Court governing “equal employment rights disputes”.