The Isle of Man is a wonderfully loving and welcoming place for many people of different backgrounds and different characteristics.
One of Michael Josem’s political heroes, Frederick Douglass, was a freed slave. Douglass recognised that the solution to racism and the solution to slavery and the solution to oppression of every form is to treat people with equal dignity, equal worth – “Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren,” he said.
As the Member for Douglas South, Michael Josem will be a strong voice against discrimination. He believes it should be against the law to discriminate in the following types and areas.
Fields of discrimination
It should be against the law to unfairly discriminate against others in an area of public life such as clubs, schools and shops, or in the workplace. These public fields include:
- accommodation;
- education;
- employment;
- land sales and transfers;
- goods and services; and
- government.
Types of discrimination
It should be against Manx law for someone to discriminate against you because of a characteristic that you have, or that someone thinks that you have. These personal characteristics include:
- age;
- carer and parental status;
- disability (including physical, sensory and intellectual disability, work related injury, medical conditions, and mental, psychological and learning disabilities);
- employment activity;
- gender identity, lawful sexual activity and sexual orientation;
- industrial activity;
- marital status;
- physical features;
- political belief or activity;
- pregnancy and breastfeeding;
- race (including colour, nationality, ethnicity and ethnic origin);
- religious belief or activity;
- sex;
- pardoned homosexual conviction;
- personal association with someone who has, or is assumed to have, one of these personal characteristics.
It should also be against the law to sexually harass or victimise someone, or to vilify someone because of their race or religion.
