Monday 2 October 2000

Discrimination against Gays now Unlawful

The transcript of MacDonald v Ministry of Defence (EAT, 17th September 2000) has just been published.

The EAT has departed from previous authorities which hold that discrimination against homosexuals does not fall within the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.

It held that the word 'sex' in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 is ambiguous - potentially including sexual orientation as well as gender. Despite the previous authorities to the contrary, it held that it is obliged to look at rights under the European Convention of Human Rights when, in two recent cases (Lustig-Prean and Salgueiro da Silva Mounta v Portugal), the European Court held that discrimination against homosexuals offended articles 8 (right to respect for privacy) and 14 (right not to be discriminated against when enjoying Convention rights) respectively.

Due to these new authorities, it was time to reconsider the traditional UK approach.

Accordingly, when considering a case of discrimination against a homosexual employee, the correct comparator under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 is now a heterosexual (be it male or female) rather than a homosexual of the opposite gender.

The transcript can be downloaded from:
http://wood.ccta.gov.uk/eat/eatjudgments.nsf/faf4a44f36aa53fc80256794004040c2/fcac7ff40afaec3c8025696c0039e3c0?OpenDocument

Note: if the link does not work (it may be too long for some browsers), try http://wood.ccta.gov.uk/eat/eatjudgments.nsf

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