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Originally Posted by philip.j.fry
I quite agree with that, this is not discrimination against gay men. However, there is discrimination in general, it is wrong for women to be allowed to wear the studs whilst men cannot.
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It's only 'discrimination' in the strict sense of the word - that a distinction is made, in this case between male and female police officers. Sadly the word as commonly used has attracted a whole lot of baggage that almost implies 'discrimination' is necessarily bad, immoral and/or illegal.
That is not the case here. The Law allows for discrimination in the treatment of male and female police officers where there are good reasons. There are clearly good reasons here. The wearing of an ear-ring by a man may well be fine and dandy by people of my generation and younger (I'm 31), but for a great many older people an ear-ring in a man's ear says a whole lot of things about him that might lessen or destroy their trust in him and his authority.
It is not appropriate to expect these people to change their thinking to accommodate policemen who want to wear ear rings. It is the policeman who is the public servant and it is his duty to be accessible and approachable to all sections of society.