Newsagent cheesed off by lesbian sandwich questions

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • May 12, 2006 - 0:00

Aruna Majevadia, had been providing sandwiches in her Brighton shop for two years(Credit: sunrise1002)

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A newsagent was shocked this week after being asked to disclose her sexuality when completing a form related to selling sandwiches.

Aruna Majevadia, had been providing sandwiches in her Brighton shop for two years, but was amazed when the council sent her a form to complete regarding hygiene standards, which asked for her nationality, religion and sexuality.

She told The Argus, "I was flabbergasted. I filled in the form because I didn't want the council to stop me selling sandwiches. The last question asked me whether I was bisexual, heterosexual or lesbian. That threw me.

"What has my sexuality or nationality got to do with selling sandwiches? I'm normally a jolly person but this brought me down. I'm just a single mum trying to earn a living."

Ms Majevadia, an Asian Hindu, left the box blank and instead wrote "single mum."

She then phoned Brighton and Hove Council to find out why she had been sent a hygiene form when her premises had been approved the previous month.

A council spokesman said: "Filling in the form about water and facilities helps save taxpayers money because it helps cut down the number of premises we have to inspect.

"The monitoring form is there to ensure outlets run by a particular section of the community, say ethnic groups, are not seen to be attracting any more attention from our inspectors than any other.

"It's all about fairness and having the statistics to ensure we're being fair."

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