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A transgender man in China is suing his former employer for gender discrimination after he got fired.

CGTN’s Wu Guoxiu interviews Mr. C in southwestern Guizhou Province.



Transgender Chinese man demands workplace justice, social equality A transgender man in China is suing his former employer for gender discrimination after he got fired. CGTN’s Wu Guoxiu interviews Mr. C in southwestern Guizhou Province.

Mr. C was born a woman but considers himself is a man. He took a local health center to court which he claims dismissed him after one week’s probation due to his gender identification.

The court ruled in December that he was illegally fired, but said there was no proof his dismissal was due to bias against transgender people. He’s since applied to the court for a retrial.

Mr. C said he is not only fighting for his own rights. “The HR chief said in an audio clip that they dismissed me because of how I dressed. It’s bias,” he said.

For ten years, he’s led an NGO which aims to help the LGBT community through consultations, speeches and gatherings. Lately, he’s been interviewing new volunteers, mostly from the community itself.

Mr. C and his friends are joining their efforts, they’re calling for more social equality, not only for themselves but also for the LGBT community that’s estimated to include tens of millions in China.

There are no official statistics on the size of China’s LGBT community, but it’s estimated to number around 70 million. That’s one in every twenty people.

A 2016 survey conducted by non-profit business network, WorkForLGBT, said more gay men and women in the Chinese mainland are planning to come out.

The survey says only 22 percent of gay men and 12 percent of gay women don’t intend to reveal their sexual orientation in the next five years.

This hesitance can be traced back to the fact that homosexuality was regarded as a mental disorder in China until 2001.

And last year, a court in Hunan Province rejected a gay couple’s request that they be allowed to marry. The LGBT community is now asking for equal social rights.

Marriage rights are also a concern for Mr. C. He has to undergo surgery to become a man if he wants to change the gender on his official ID card. But he is scared.

Mr. C’s girlfriend, who currently lives in Beijing, plans to move in with him soon. They plan to make a series of speeches across the country this year.

He said he has the best parents and the best girlfriend, but not a society that allows him to work and marry like anyone else.