PARIS (AP) – France’s top administrative court on Tuesday ruled against allowing body-covering “burkini” swimwear in public pools for religious reasons, arguing it violates the government’s principle of neutrality towards religion. infringes.
While worn by only a small number of people in France, the head-to-ankle burkini draws intense political debate in the country.
Interior Minister Gerald Dormann described the State Council’s decision as a “victory for secularism”. Some Muslim women denounced it as unfairly targeting their faith and their bodies, and based on old misconceptions about Islam.
The city of Grenoble, led by the mayor of the Greens party, voted last month to allow women to wear burkinis in public pools after campaigning by local activists. The city also voted to allow women to swim topless as part of a broader relaxation of swimwear rules.
The prefect or top government official of the Grenoble region blocked Burkini’s decision, arguing that it was contrary to the secular principles of France.
The State Council upheld the prefect’s move on Tuesday, saying in a statement that the Grenoble vote was “to satisfy religious demand” and “harm the neutrality of public services.”
The ruling was the first under a controversial law championed by President Emmanuel Macron, intended to protect “republican values” that his government calls the threat of religious extremism.
In France, clothing rules in public pools are stricter, as officials say are for hygiene reasons: hats are required, and baggy swim trunks or other large clothing are usually prohibited. Wetsuits are also not allowed in many pools, as are some sun-protection suits.
Burkini are allowed in public pools in some other cities and towns. The city of Rennes is among them, but its decision was aimed at loosening swimwear rules, not based on religious reasons.
The Grenoble Mayor argued that women should be able to wear the clothes of their choice and express their religious belief in pools such as the alleys. Opponents of the burkini – including local officials from the far right but also the left – argued that the swimwear represented the oppression of women and a potential gateway to Islamic fundamentalism.
Six years ago, amid shock and anger after some Muslim women were ordered to remove body-concealing clothing on French Riviera beaches, the State Council lifted the local burkini ban.
For Fatima Bent of Muslim feminist group Lallab, Tuesday’s decision is “a clear step backwards” that will further isolate women who cover their heads and bodies in public.
While some Muslim women are forced to cover themselves by male relatives, he said, “Muslim women are not homogenous. (French officials) see Muslim women with the same glasses.” He attributed a surviving colonial era to “fixation with the body of Muslim women by politicians who seek to control them.”
Grenoble’s decision to go topless swimming has not been challenged in the courts.