Earlier this year, shortly after completing gender-reassignment surgery, a Chinese transgender woman surnamed Yang was fired 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 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 says transgenders still find 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 transgenders,” said Yang, who is in her 30s and introduces herself as “Ms. Ma.”