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Romeo foxtrot victor over Juliet

Paul O'Mahony
Paul O'Mahony - [email protected]
Romeo foxtrot victor over Juliet

Sweden's Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (Jämo) has ruled against a woman who accused a dance school of discrimination when it refused to allow her to take the lead while learning the foxtrot, newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reports.

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In her complaint to the government agency, the woman wrote: "It is about as logical to deny me the opportunity to take the lead when dancing as it would be to sell me strawberry rather than chocolate ice cream becase of my gender."

The irate dance student put pen to paper after the Mälarsalen dance school in Stockholm justified its decision with the contention that: "A girl can never be a boy and a boy can never be a girl."

Having taken on board the arguments put forward by both sides, however, the ombudsman eventually ruled in favour of the school.

"The courses are available to both men and women," the ombudsman's office wrote in its decision.

"The woman has therefore not in a legal sense been discriminated against by a service provider because of her gender."

The head of the school, Hans Ryberg, said the decision was entirely expected as the roles of men and women are clearly defined in the realm of ballroom dancing.

"The ombudsman should have thrown this complaint in the rubbish bin immediately; it is taxpayers' money after all," he told Svenska Dagbladet.

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