In the UK, Sexual orientation is one of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
Sexual orientation refers to person's attraction towards:
- people of the same sex
- people of the opposite sex
- people of both sexes
The aim of the Equality Act is to protect everyone, whether lesbian, gay, bisexual or heterosexual, from direct or indirect discrimination, harassment or victimisation because of their sexual orientation. There are also lots of different definitions for romantic attraction. Examples of these can be found on Stonewall's Glossary of Terms.
The Equality Act also aims to protect individuals against discrimination by perception ie if someone thinks you have a particular sexual orientation or discrimination by association ie if you are connected to someone who has a particular sexual orientation.
External links
- The UN's LGBTI Standards Toolkit, via WorkplacePride: https://workplacepride.org/untoolkit-public/
- Building Equality allies toolbox talk and toolbox talk slides - Building Equality UK
Organisations/Industry LGBTQ+ groups
- Equality and Human Rights Commission - Sexual orientation discrimination | Equality and Human Rights Commission (equalityhumanrights.com)
- LGBT+ | Prospect
- Home | Gendered Intelligence
- www.stonewall.org.uk
- Switchboard LGBT+ helpline
- Building Equality
- InterEngineering
