Declaring your sexual orientation

[Gabe]

When you apply for the academy, do you have the declare your sexual orientation and do you think it matters?

A friend in the UK is bisexual and had a lesbian marriage, but now they are separated and she has never declared this. I don't think it should matter, but if it was on record it would show a conflict of interest if the person was arrested or wanted to questioning. Otherwise it would be up to the police officer to declare this.

 

[FuZyOn]

I don't think that sexual orientation should matter. I mean, does it affect someone's working capability if he's gay or a lesbian?
I sure hope that not a lot of police stations take this in consideration.

 

[missbishi]

I'm almost certain that it's illegal for a prospective employer to ask this question in the UK. This would include the Police Force. Not that it makes a blind bit of difference either way.

 

[dyanmarie25]

I don't also think it matters. So what if this person is gay, lesbian, or bisexual? Does it mean he/she doesn't have any right to be a police officer now? So yeah, it should not be a big deal.

 

[lushlala]

I hate this type of thing on forms, the same goes for having to indicate your race. I think it has the potential of being discriminatory and like everyone says, what bearing does your sexual orientation or race have on your ability to do your job? I would hate to know that I missed out on a job on those grounds, or perhaps even worse; that I was simply a statistic, filling up the required quota for a certain category

 

[Rainman]

It would be considered a politically incorrect question in many places today. Does sexual orientation influence how someone interacts with others? Maybe it does. But on a professional level? It doesn't or at least, it shouldn't. And that's probably the reason they wouldn't want to find out if someone is straight, gay, bisexual, etc.

 

[JoanMcWench]

I'm almost certain that it's illegal for a prospective employer to ask this question in the UK. This would include the Police Force. Not that it makes a blind bit of difference either way.

Agreed. I would think it would be illegal in the states as well. It's a form of discrimination. Asking the question is irrelevant to the job. Your religion & race sits there as well.