Sexual Orientation Discrimination Law
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Who is protected?
The law also safeguards those who suffer because of the sexual orientation of their family and friends. But those who undergo treatment to change their sex are not protected under this law, as gender reassignment is a separate issue unrelated to sexual orientation and protected by the Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) regulations 1999.
The regulation covers amongst others, all employers, employment agencies, qualification bodies and providers of vocational training. However, there are exceptions and discrimination is allowed in some areas. For example, where there is a genuine reason for requiring an employee to be of a particular sexual orientation such as by religious bodies because of a religion’s doctrine or the ‘strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers’.
Similarly, an organisation advising on and promoting gay rights may be able to show that it is essential to the credibility of its chief executive who will be the public face of the organisation that he or she should be gay.
