Chinese transgender man wins landmark wrongful dismissal case

A transgender man in China has won a landmark legal challenge against wrongful dismissal in what has been described as the countrys first such discrimination case, a media report said on Tuesday.

The man, who would only be identified as Chen, was illegally fired after just a week on the job at a medical clinic in south-west China, a court ruled.

But the judge stopped short of forcing the company to apologise and did not say Chen's dismissal was related to his gender identity, the Guardian reported.

He was also awarded 2,000 yuan ($287), a month's wages.

"I have always said this case was never about the money," Chen told the Guardian on Tuesday.

"This lawsuit was about three things: dignity, raising awareness of transgender and other sexual minorities, and pushing for anti-discrimination legislation."

Although satisfied with the ruling, Chen vowed to continue legal challenges to force an apology.

He said he hoped the case would spark renewed efforts towards enacting anti-discrimination legislation to protect more people like him.

China remains deeply conservative when it comes to gender and sexuality. Being gay was only decriminalised in 1997 and it was still considered a mental illness until 2001 by the Chinese Society of Psychiatry.

--IANS

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