ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the protection offered by the law against discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief. There is a difference between answering a question in the census that one is affiliated to a religion and actually participating in the practice and life of that religion. Although formal legal protection did not appear in British law until the end of the twentieth century, there have traditionally been some attempts to accommodate religious belief and practice. Belief means any religious or philosophical belief and also includes having a lack of belief. The Equality Act 2010 provides that, in some circumstances, an employer may be permitted to require an applicant or employee to be of a particular sex or not to be a transsexual. There appears to be a distinction between the protection offered for being a member of a religious group and outward manifestations of religious belief.
