Police in northern England lost a final appeal today against a court ruling that they were wrong to refuse to recruit a male-to-female transsexual.
Five judges in Britain's House of Lords upheld a landmark November 2002 Court of Appeal ruling that West Yorkshire Police were guilty of sexual discrimination.
They unanimously ruled that police acted unlawfully when they rejected the unnamed woman's application to become a policewoman because she was born a man.
The ruling has implications for transsexuals applying for all jobs where physical contact is necessary.
West Yorkshire Police had argued that as a transsexual, and legally a man, the applicant could not conduct intimate body searches of women in custody.
The force's lawyer said police accepted they had discriminated against the transsexual, but said they were entitled to do so because she would have been unable to carry out the full duties required of her.
He stressed that the force had "no animosity" towards transsexuals and employed one as a civilian worker. London's Metropolitan Police Service said in February it had hired its first transsexual.