Clause 2 - Exceptions
Sex Discrimination (Clubs and Other Private Associations) Bill
4:45 pm
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
David Wright: Clause 1 brings clubs within the scope of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, whereas clause 2 provides for a number of exceptions for special circumstances in which it is right to allow different treatment of men and women.
The Sex Discrimination Act does not prevent political parties from making special provision for one sex in their constitution, organisation or administration, such as, for example, by having women's sections or reserving some seats on committees for women. Voluntary bodies whose main purpose is to provide benefits for only one sex are not thereby in breach of the Act, and nothing in the Bill affects that provision.
Section 35 of the Sex Discrimination Act contains a number of exceptions to allow for the provision of single-sex facilities or services where they are established for people who require special care, supervision or attention, or in a place used for organised religion, where such provision is required by that religion's doctrine or is done to avoid offending the religious sensibilities of a significant number of its followers. Such provision is also allowed where the facilities are likely to be used by two or more persons at the same time and users of one sex are likely to be embarrassed by the presence of members of the opposite sex or to be in a state of undress, and therefore reasonably able to object to the presence of the opposite sex. Finally, such provision is available where there is likely to be physical contact between the user and another person who might reasonably object if the user were a member of the opposite sex: I think of sessions for one sex only in a leisure club or swimming pool, which would be allowed to continue under the proposals. The clause extends each of those exceptions, so that they can also apply to private clubs.
The clause also adds two new exceptions to the Sex Discrimination Act for private clubs. The first provides that a club such a drama society or choir does not discriminate if, for reasons of authenticity, it selects people of the appropriate sex for roles in a dramatic performance or other entertainment. That mirrors a provision in the Sex Discrimination Act that deals with employment.
Peter Bottomley: To help those who read the Committee's proceedings will the hon. Gentleman say to which subsection he is referring?