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”. Read more via South China Morning Post