28.—(1) For the purpose of this Part, “C” and “D” represent 2 persons who differ as follows:

(a) in relation to the F53[civil status] ground, C and D have different F53[civil status];

(b) in relation to the family status ground, C has family status and D does not, or vice versa;

(c) in relation to the sexual orientation ground, C and D are of different sexual orientations;

(d) in relation to the religion ground, C and D have different religious beliefs or C has a religious belief and D does not, or vice versa;

(e) in relation to the age ground, C and D are of different ages;

(f) in relation to the disability ground, C is a person with a disability and D is not, or vice versa, or C and D are persons with different disabilities;

(g) in relation to the ground of race, C and D differ as to race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origins or any combination of those factors;

(h) in relation to the F54[Traveller] community ground, C is a member of the F54[Traveller] community and D is not, or vice versa.

(2) In the following provisions of this Part, any reference to C and D which does not apply to a specific discriminatory ground shall be treated as a reference to C and D in the context of each of the discriminatory grounds (other than the gender ground) considered separately.

(3) Any reference in this Act to persons having the same relevant characteristic as C (or as D) shall be construed by reference to the discriminatory ground in relation to which the reference applies or, as the case may be, in relation to each of the discriminatory grounds (other than the gender ground) separately, so that—

(a) in relation to the F53[civil status] ground, the relevant characteristic is having the same F53[civil status] as C (or, as the case may be, as D), and

(b) in relation to the family status ground, the relevant characteristic is having the same, or the same lack of, family status as C (or, as the case may be, as D),

and so on for each of the other discriminatory grounds.