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Grenoble allows burkinis in swimming pools – topless bathing is also ok

2022-05-17T05:26:19.482Z


The debate was heated, the vote was extremely close: in Grenoble, women will be allowed to go to the swimming pool topless in the future – but also in full-body swimsuits. Critics don't want to accept that.


Enlarge image

Woman in burkini (in the Mediterranean Sea off Marseille)

Photo: STRINGER/ REUTERS

The city council of Grenoble, France, voted in a narrow vote to largely abolish the dress code for women in the city's swimming pools.

After several hours of debate, 29 members of parliament voted in favor of the proposal by Green Mayor Eric Piolle on Monday evening, 27 voted against and two abstained.

From June 1st, both topless bathing and the full-body swimsuit often worn by Muslim women, known as the burkini, will be permitted.

In the new bathing regulations, the term "bathing suit" is replaced by the term "swimwear". In addition, the stipulation that the bathing suit may only reach from the knees to the neck is no longer applicable.

It remains the case that swimwear must be made of fabric designed for this purpose and must fit snugly.

Clothing that has been worn before entering the pool or that poses a risk to safety and hygiene remains prohibited.

Although the word burkini does not appear at all, the mayor received heavy criticism in the debate in the city council.

He is a partner of "political Islam", he implements the ideas of Salafists and tramples on women's rights, opponents say it is a question of submission to Islam.

The initiative had caused a nationwide sensation in France.

"We want public offerings to be accessible to everyone, we want everyone to be able to bathe 'topless', both women and men, and that everyone can bathe covered, women and men," Mayor Piolle said in justification.

»Break with the values ​​of our republic«

While the topless proposal went largely unnoticed, the burkini in particular caused a stir: This project contradicts Republican values, said Prisca Thévenot, a spokeswoman for the ruling party LREM.

“Anyone who enters a swimming pool has to abide by the rules.” One of the most important rules in France is “secularism and equality before the law”.

France sees itself as a secular country in which there is a strict separation of state and religion.

The handling of religious symbols in public has repeatedly caused controversy, especially in connection with Islam.

Conservative politicians accused Piolle of a "break with laicism and the values ​​of our republic".

The prefect of the department of Isère said that, on the instructions of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, he would appeal to the administrative court in Grenoble to block the measure and obtain a suspension of the scheme.

In the council debate, Piolle rejected the objections.

On the contrary, his initiative should be seen as part of a commitment to secularism: because there is no ban on wearing religious clothing in public spaces, "not even in the swimming pool".

The conservative regional president Laurent Wauquiez had already launched heavy artillery against the burkini plans.

»I warn the mayor: in this case the region will stop all subsidies for the city of Grenoble.

Not a cent of the inhabitants of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes will finance submission to Islamism.«

The word burkini is a combination of bikini and burka - a full-body veil for women demanded by Islamists.

There was already a heated argument about the items of clothing in France in the summer of 2016, and there were also local bans.

Finally, the Council of State declared a municipal burkini ban, as enacted on the Côte d'Azur, to be illegal.

Municipalities are citing safety and hygiene requirements to keep burkinis banned from beaches and pools.

wit/AFP/dpa

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2022-05-17

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