A local court in Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou Province on Wednesday held a second hearing in a case filed by a transgender man over workplace discrimination.
However, the court, as in the first hearing, didn't give a judgment.
The plaintiff Mr C (pseudonym), 29, who was assigned as female at birth but identified himself as male, was fired only one week after he was hired by the Guiyang branch of Ciming Health Checkup Group Co Ltd last year. He filed a case with the local arbitration commission on March 7, seeking a week's salary and compensation for his financial losses caused by the dismissal.
In April, the people's court in Guiyang's Yunyan district became the first in the country's history to accept the case filed by a transgender man, a landmark moment for China's LGBT community.
During the second hearing, Mr C invited Liu Xiaonan, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law who had participated in the drafting of China's Anti-Employment Discrimination Law, to attend as an expert witness.
"The defendant terminated the labor relationship but failed to provide evidence in accordance with the Labor Contract Law, which is illegal. Moreover, the defendant told Mr C that they fired him because of his identity, quoting the head of the human resources department," Mr C's lawyer surnamed Wang told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Although Ciming had agreed to pay around 700 yuan ($101) in back salary and compensation following the arbitration, Mr C told the Global Times that he refused to accept the money as he "wants an apology from the company for discrimination."
"I am not doing this only for myself, but also for all those who might face discrimination at work, such as the pregnant women or the disabled," said Mr C.
Quoting the head of Ciming's human resources department, the Xinhua News Agency reported in March that the company fired Liu because they thought he was gay and that his sartorial choices were "incompatible" with the company's image.
According to a report published by Chinese nonprofit organization Aibai Culture and Education Center, the LGBT community in China still struggles with social stigma among employers and peers, as many people have yet to accept the group, Xinhua reported.
However, more and more LGBT people are resorting to legal means to raise social awareness and defend their legitimate rights to employment and marriage. In the latest example, a local court in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province heard, and then dismissed, the country's first lawsuit on same-sex marriage rights in April.
"China's law on marriage clearly stipulates that the parties in a marriage are a man and a woman, and a marriage registration application filed by two men obviously does not meet the requirement," the Furong district court in Changsha said on its website.
