Protected Personal Characteristic

Intent

To define what is a protected personal characteristic so that other proposals can use the term uniformly.

Proposal

Protected personal characteristics include biological traits, sexual orientation, gender, beliefs, religion, birthplace, or ancestry.

Definitions

* Biological Trait

Discussion

A protected personal characteristic is generally something about a person which the person does not control, but there are things that a person does not control such as infection or injury that are not protected personal characteristics.

Beliefs are a protected personal characteristic because they are internal to a person’s mind and someone accused of having certain beliefs may not actually have them. A person may change their beliefs, and it’s impossible to prove that a person’s beliefs have changed because a person could be merely “acting”. This makes it more likely that injustice would happen if people either expressing or accused of having a particular belief are subject to rules that other people are not. People should be regulated according to their actions, not according to their beliefs.

Although religion can be considered a choice, many people are raised by their parents to have certain beliefs from a young age so in practice people generally don’t actively choose their religion.

Non-protected characteristics include employment, health including carrying of a disease, injury, abilities or skills, membership in an enemy military force, membership in a violent extremist group, a prior criminal conviction, or any conditions or choices that present a danger to the public or to law enforcement.