For years after coming out as transgender, Ling’er, an aspiring influencer in eastern China, struggled from heartbreak to heartbreak. Her family refused to accept her. When she tried to find an interim job to support herself, employers would not hire her.

有志于成为网红的灵儿生活在中国东部，在公开跨性别者身份后的几年里，她一直在心碎中挣扎。家人拒绝接受她。她想找一份临时工作来养活自己，雇主拒绝雇用她。

And when her parents sent her to a hospital to try to change her gender identity, she was held there for three months, despite her repeated protests. She was forced to undergo treatment that included multiple rounds of electroshock therapy.

父母把她送到医院，试图改变她的性别身份，尽管她一再抗议，还是在那里被关了三个月，被迫接受包括多轮电击疗法在内的治疗。

So when she later sued the hospital for subjecting her to unnecessary and unwanted treatment, she was not optimistic. Then the seemingly unthinkable happened: A court accepted her complaint, in China’s first known lawsuit over so-called conversion therapy involving a transgender person. And the hospital agreed in October to pay her a sizable settlement.

因此，当她后来起诉医院对她进行不必要和她不想要的治疗时，她对诉讼并不乐观。然后，看似不可思议的事情发生了：一家法院接受了她的起诉，这是中国已知的首例涉及跨性别者的所谓扭转治疗诉讼。10月，医院同意向她支付一笔可观的赔偿金。

“To me, this is a win. With this money, I can start my new life, and start my own business,” said Ling’er, 28. “I can live my own life.”

“对我来说，这是一个胜利。有了这笔钱，我可以开始新生活，开始自己的事业，”28岁的灵儿说。“我可以拥有自己的生活了。”

The case is a rare bright spot in the fight for L.G.B.T.Q. rights in China. Ling’er’s lawsuit was covered sympathetically by some mainstream Chinese news outlets, even as overall coverage of L.G.B.T.Q. issues has diminished. That her lawsuit was accepted at all was a hard-won victory, her supporters said, in a country with no laws protecting L.G.B.T.Q. people.

这起案件是中国争取LGBTQ权利过程中罕见的光明时刻。尽管对LGBTQ问题的整体报道在减少，但一些中国主流新闻媒体还是带着同情地报道了灵儿的诉讼。她的支持者说，在一个没有法律保护LGBTQ人群的国家，她的诉讼被受理是来之不易的胜利。

As China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has overseen a crackdown on civil society, many L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy groups have been forced to shut down, and Pride celebrations have been canceled. Nationalist influencers have attacked L.G.B.T.Q. activism as a hostile foreign force. People have been punished for displaying rainbow flags.

随着中国领导人习近平对公民社会的镇压，许多LGBTQ倡导团体被迫关闭，骄傲庆祝活动也被取消。民族主义网红攻击LGBTQ行动主义是敌对外国势力。人们因展示彩虹旗而受到惩罚。

It is unclear whether the payout to Ling’er will have any effect on preventing future cases of conversion therapy, a practice that has been widely discredited by medical experts. The hospital pressed for the exact terms of the settlement to be confidential, and it has not acknowledged wrongdoing.

目前尚不清楚向灵儿支付的赔偿是否会对预防未来的扭转疗法案例产生影响，这种疗法目前已被医学专家广泛怀疑。医院坚持要求对和解协议的具体条款保密，并且没有承认有任何不当行为。

Ling’er was initially reluctant even to file the lawsuit. “Sexual minorities in China have no guarantees,” she said. “How could you possibly protect your rights?”

灵儿一开始甚至不愿意提起诉讼。“中国的性少数群体没有保障，”她说。“你怎么可能保护自己的权利？”

灵儿在天津的一家美发沙龙。她从小就知道自己喜欢和女孩在一起，上大学时才知道自己是跨性别者。

She was ultimately convinced by a group of L.G.B.T.Q. advocates, in China and overseas, with whom she had connected online and who helped her find lawyers. It was a support network that she could not have imagined finding in her rural, mountainous hometown in China’s Hebei Province.

她最终被一群在中国和海外的LGBTQ倡导者说服，她在网上和他们建立了联系，他们帮助她找到了律师。这是她在河北山区农村老家无法想象的支持网络。

Ling’er, who is using a chosen name, had known since childhood that she preferred spending time with girls, and she realized while studying at a vocational school that she was transgender. She eventually began taking estrogen and dressing in women’s clothing. But when she came out to her parents in 2021, during a visit home, they said she was disgracing their family.

灵儿这个名字是她自己取的，她从小就知道自己更喜欢和女孩在一起，在职业学校学习时，她意识到自己是跨性别者。最终，她开始服用雌激素并穿上女装。但是，当她在2021年回家探亲时向父母公开跨性别身份时，父母却说她丢了全家的脸。

In 2022, Ling’er agreed to her parents’ requests to see a psychiatrist at a hospital in the nearby city of Qinhuangdao, hoping it would appease them.

2022年，灵儿同意了父母的要求，去附近秦皇岛市的一家医院看精神科医生，希望这样能够安抚他们。

She explained to doctors at Qinhuangdao Jiulongshan Hospital that she did not think there was anything wrong with her gender identity, and that it was her parents who could not accept her. She acknowledged feeling anxious and depressed, but not to a serious extent. Hospital staff noted that she seemed clearheaded and spoke at a normal pace, medical and legal records show.

她向秦皇岛九龙山医院的医生解释说，她认为自己的性别认同没有任何问题，是父母不能接受她。她承认自己感到焦虑和沮丧，但不是很严重。医疗和法律记录显示，医院工作人员注意到她看起来头脑清醒，语速正常。

Even so, she was diagnosed with anxiety and “ego-dystonic sexual orientation.” The term, which has generally referred to people who are unhappy with their sexual orientation, was dropped from the World Health Organization’s official list of medical conditions in 2019, due to concerns that it contributed to discrimination against L.G.B.T.Q. people and had been used as justification for conversion therapy.

即便如此，她还是被诊断患有焦虑和“自我不和谐的性取向”。该术语通常指对自己的性取向不满意的人，由于担心该术语会助长对LGBTQ人群的歧视，并被用作扭转疗法的理由，世界卫生组织已于2019年将其从正式的医疗状况清单中删除。

Over Ling’er’s protests, her mother had her involuntarily hospitalized.

灵儿的母亲不顾她的抗议，在她非自愿的情况下将她送进了医院。

She remained in hospital for 97 days, despite repeatedly pleading to leave. She was given psychiatric medication and subjected to seven rounds of modified electroconvulsive therapy.

尽管她一再恳求出院，但还是在医院住了97天。她接受了精神科药物治疗，并接受了七轮改良电击治疗。

The doctors did not explicitly say that the electric shocks were intended to change her gender identity, Ling’er said, but they urged her to cut her hair short and wear men’s clothing, and they made clear that they believed her transgender identity was wrong.

灵儿说，医生并没有明确表示电击是为了改变她的性别身份，但他们要她剪短头发，穿男装，并明确表示他们认为她的跨性别身份是错误的。

“The doctors didn’t listen to anything I said,” she said. “They thought I was sick, so I was sick.”

“医生不听我说的任何话，”她说。“他们觉得我病了，所以我病了。”

Medical and private institutions offering “conversion therapy” are common in China, according to activists, because the stigma against transgender people is widespread.

据活动人士称，医疗和私人机构提供“扭转治疗”在中国很常见，因为对跨性别者的耻辱感普遍存在。

The Chinese Society of Psychiatry removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 2001, but it retained the ego-dystonic diagnosis, and it also continues to classify transgender individuals as having a mental illness. People are allowed to change their legal genders, but only if they undergo gender-affirming surgery and notify their families.

2001年，中国精神病学协会将同性恋从精神疾病名单中删除，但保留了自我不和谐性取向的诊断，并继续将跨性别者归类为精神疾病。在中国，人们可以改变自己的法定性别，但必须接受性别肯定手术并通知家人。

In two landmark lawsuits — one concluded in 2014 and another in 2017 — judges ordered clinics to compensate the plaintiffs, gay men who had been subjected to conversion therapy, noting that their rights had been violated. But previous court rulings are not binding precedents in Chinese law.

在两起具有里程碑意义的诉讼中——一起于2014年结案，另一起于2017年结案——法官命令医院赔偿原告（接受扭转疗法的男同性恋者），称他们的权利受到了侵犯。但在中国法律中，以前的法院判决并不是具有约束力的判例。

The authorities’ continued classification of transgender people as mentally ill also makes it harder to build a legal case, said Chen Junmi, an L.G.B.T.Q. rights activist in the United States who helped Ling’er bring her lawsuit.

帮助灵儿提起诉讼的美国LGBTQ维权人士陈军米表示，当局继续将跨性别者归类为精神疾病患者，也让他们更难提起法律诉讼。

When Ling’er was finally released from the hospital, she returned home to find that her parents had thrown away her clothes and makeup. At first, she tried to live as a man. But in September last year, she decided to cut off her family and leave home.

灵儿最终出院了，她回到家，发现父母把她的衣服和化妆品都扔了。起初，她试图以男人的身份生活。但去年9月，她决定与家人断绝关系，离开家庭。

For months, she drifted from city to city. She was turned away when she tried to find work as a waitress or caterer and at times slept on the street. Seeking solace, she connected with L.G.B.T.Q. communities online, including Mx. Chen. In July, she sued the hospital. (Her lawyers also suggested suing her parents, but Ling’er said she could not bring herself to do that.)

几个月来，她从一个城市流浪到另一个城市。她想找一份服务员或餐饮店的工作，总是被拒绝，有时甚至露宿街头。为了寻求安慰，她在网上联系了LGBTQ群体，其中包括陈军米。7月，她起诉了那家医院。（律师还建议起诉她的父母，但灵儿说她不能这么做。）

The hospital denied any wrongdoing, arguing that Chinese law allows people with mental disorders to be hospitalized against their will with their families’ consent, if they cannot consent on their own. The hospital could not be reached for comment.

医院否认有任何不当行为，称中国法律允许精神障碍患者在无法自行同意的情况下，经家属同意，在违背本人意愿的情况下住院治疗。记者无法联系到该医院置评。

The hospital initially offered only one-quarter of the 80,000 yuan, or $11,000, that Ling’er had sought. But after months of negotiations, they reached a settlement that Ling’er said would allow her to start her own shop or street food stall, and to begin saving for gender-affirming surgery. She is now renting an apartment in the city of Tianjin, and she dreams of becoming an entertainer, playing instruments or chatting with viewers on livestream apps.

医院最初只肯出灵儿要求的8万元（约合1.1万美元）的四分之一。但经过几个月的谈判，他们达成了和解协议，灵儿说，这笔钱可以让她开一个自己的小店或街头小吃摊，并且开始为性别肯定手术存钱。她现在在天津市租了一套公寓，梦想成为艺人，演奏乐器，或者通过直播应用程序与观众聊天。

“对我来说，这是一个胜利。有了这笔钱，我可以开始新生活，开始自己的事业，”28岁的灵儿说。“我可以拥有自己的生活了。”

Ling’er said she thought she had won a favorable outcome in part because the judge overseeing the negotiations had been sympathetic to her.

灵儿说，她认为自己赢得有利结果的部分原因是监督谈判的法官同情她。

“Her attitude toward me was, ‘You are you, no one can change you,’” Ling’er said. “If all Chinese parents could be like that, our community’s problems could be resolved very easily.”

她对我的态度是，‘你就是你，没有人能改变你。’”灵儿说。“如果所有的中国父母都能这样，我们这个群体的问题就容易解决了。”

Mx. Chen, the activist, said that Chinese society has become more accepting of L.G.B.T.Q. people. That has created room to keep pushing for change, even if explicit activism has largely been shut down.

活动人士陈军米表示，中国社会对LGBTQ群体的接受度越来越高。这为继续推动变革创造了空间，即使明确的行动主义在很大程度上被封杀了。

“I think the government is learning too,” Mx. Chen said.

“我认为政府也在学习，”陈军米说。

Ling’er said she hoped to see legal protections for, and education about, diverse gender identities.

灵儿说，她希望看到对多元性别身份的法律保护和教育。

“My own strength is far from enough,” she said. “We need all sisters to stand up and work together to improve the situation of transgender people in China.”

“我自己的力量远远不够，”她说。“我们需要所有的姐妹都站出来，共同努力，改善中国跨性别者的状况。”