Met Police to Introduce Gender-Neutral Uniforms
Amid alleged concerns over gender-specific uniforms being in breach of the 2010 Equality Act, Britain’s largest police force has reportedly launched a review into updating uniform standards to cater for so-called non-binary or gender fluid cops.
Currently, female officers wear bowler hats and cravats while male officers either wear helmets or peaked caps.
One officer, named as Alex Blue, has said that the differing uniform standards represent a form of indirect discrimination and that uniforms should be made gender-neutral.
The police force said that it will consult with 30,000 officers on the decision, which could have wide-ranging implications throughout the UK, including for the armed services.
The legal precedent for the claim of discrimination is reportedly based on an employment tribunal case from last year, in which an engineer from Jaguar Land Rover successfully argued that having a gender-flued identity is a “protected characteristic”.