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| Britain |
| Swim centre bars two-year-old girl because she isn't Muslim |
| 2007-02-13 |
| When Lee Williams saw a parent-and-toddler session advertised at his local pool, he thought it was the perfect chance to teach his young daughter to swim. Arriving at the leisure centre already in her swimming costume, two-year-old Darby was desperate to get into the water. But she was left in tears when staff said they were not allowed in the pool because the session was for Muslim women and their children only. Mr Williams, 34, bitterly criticised Manchester City Council yesterday after it admitted that advertising for the session, on its website and on leaflets, had been misleading. 'I can understand why Muslim women need to have this kind of session, but the council should not be advertising it as parent and toddler,' he said. 'They made out I'd got it wrong, but I had checked on the council's website for the times.' The incident happened at Abraham Moss Leisure Centre in Crumpsall. Mr Williams, a delivery driver from Blackley, had seen the parent-and-toddler session being promoted on the council's website and a leaflet. But when they arrived, reception staff told Mr Williams he could not swim with Darby because it was a women-only session and they would have to come back later. Despite his protests that he had specifically checked the time of the session, the staff were insistent. It was only when he telephoned the council to complain that he was told the session had been privately booked for Muslim women. A spokesman for Manchester City Council apologised to Mr Williams. He said: 'We were sorry to hear that he had been turned away. We are ensuring that our website is updated and staff are briefed so this does not happen again.' The incident is the latest in a series of rows between local authorities and the public over swimming lessons for ethnic minority groups. In December last year, Croydon Council in South London came under fire for running Muslim-only sessions at one of its leisure centres. Non-Muslim members of Thornton Heath leisure centre were angry that they could not swim during the Muslim-only sessions on Saturdays and Sundays unless they obeyed the strict dress code. For men, this involved wearing shorts which kept the navel hidden and were extended below the knee, while women bathers had to wear a swimming costume which covered their body from the neck down to the ankle. Similarly, Wolverhampton Council and South Lanarkshire local authority have also been criticised for operating women- only swimming for Muslims. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #12 Don't know if Williams would have wanted his daughter to swim that day. All that camel piss... The spineless Dhimmis in Briton are DONE. Right now they rate right down there with the french. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-02-13 16:07 |
| #11 Not only that, but I imagine it's the busiest of times during the week (on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday) that this gov't allowed this "booking"? Taqiyya, baby! |
| Posted by: BA 2007-02-13 15:35 |
| #10 Lemme see; Muslims can use public facilities anytime, but have the discretion to ban non-Muslims at will? Hmm. |
| Posted by: Baba Tutu 2007-02-13 14:46 |
| #9 Darn, *Britain. PIMF |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2007-02-13 13:28 |
| #8 How did I know even before opening the article that this was Briain? And then to find out that it was Thornton Heath, just down the road from Croydon where you will have to join the queue for Visa extensions at a place called, believe it or not, Lunar House! |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2007-02-13 13:26 |
| #7 I wonder what would happen if a Christian organization had booked the pool and forbid non-Christians? I dunno, let's ask Amanda Marcotte ... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-02-13 13:04 |
| #6 Considering JCCs, they don't discriminate by faith. At least not the ones I know. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2007-02-13 11:58 |
| #5 I think you Americans have probably missed the small detail that this woman has been thrown out of a swim center she paid with her taxes. I don't know in America but in Europe there are nine chances if ten this swimming pool is owned by the city or the region. In both cases owned by the tax payer except that tax payers can't use it; it is reserved for people who have never paid taxes. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-02-13 10:05 |
| #4 Sue for discrimination. Works for everyone else. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-02-13 09:55 |
| #3 Women only swims are ok, I think there was a beach in Boston that used to have them (mainly for the local O Jewish community) and of course many Jewish Comm Centers (private orgs, of course) have them. But they should make clear that its for ANYONE who wants a gender seg swim, not only for muslims. Also they need to make sure its not taking up the prime swim times. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2007-02-13 09:23 |
| #2 A terrible policy--encouraging and enpowering voluntary segregation. A Christian organization should demand equal time for only Christians to swim, and fight any denial in court. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-02-13 09:07 |
| #1 I wonder what would happen if a Christian organization had booked the pool and forbid non-Christians? Also... isn't it odd how - if its against muslims its racist but if its for muslims its religious tolerance.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-02-13 08:49 |