The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which protected men and women from discrimination on the grounds of sex or marriage. The Act concerned employment, training, education, harassment, the provision of goods and services, and the disposal of premises.
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 and The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (Amendment) Regulations 2008 amended parts of this Act to apply to transsexual people. Other amendments were introduced by the Sex Discrimination Act 1986, the Employment Act 1989, the Equality Act 2006, and other legislation such as rulings by the European Court of Justice.
The Act did not apply in Northern Ireland, however The Sex Discrimination Gender Reassignment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 does.
The Act was repealed in full by the Equality Act 2010.
The Equal Opportunities commissionThe Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 established the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) whose main duties were to work towards the elimination of discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity between sexes and to keep under review the workings of the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act 1970. The EOC helped large numbers of individuals bring cases to Employment Tribunals and to the courts. The EOC is now subsumed into the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).