When Anastasia, a Russian transgender woman, took her employer to court for firing her after a gender reassignment operation, she did not expect to win. “I knew the chances were slim, I understand what country I live in,” the 43-year-old told AFP in her native Saint Petersburg. But in the first known case of its kind in Russia, a court in the former imperial capital last week ruled she had been unfairly discriminated against and ordered compensation. Local LGBT rights groups hailed the decision as a small victory in a country where gay and transgender people are often persecuted. A so-called “gay propaganda” law officially forbids the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors but in effect stops most LGBT campaigning. “It is the first time that this type of case is discussed (in public),” Anastasia’s lawyer Max Olenichev told AFP.