A Chinese labor arbitration committee has denied a gay teacher’s request to be rehired, after he sued his former kindergarten for unfair dismissal in a widely-watched case concerning LGBT discrimination in China.

In a ruling released last week, the committee refrained from acknowledging the teacher’s claim that he was sacked for being gay, the teacher, identified by the pseudonym Ming Jue, told Inkstone.

But it ordered the kindergarten to pay six months’ of salary of about $5,200 to the teacher for failing to sign an employment contract with him.

Ming Jue, 31, lost his job at the kindergarten in Qingdao in the eastern province of Shandong in August, after his sexual orientation became publicly known.

In September, he sued the kindergarten for sacking him because he was gay. But the employer maintained that he resigned voluntarily due to complaints by parents. Read more via Inkstone News