Donate SIGN UP

British Swimmers are told they must wear burkinis

Avatar Image
Gromit | 15:04 Mon 17th Aug 2009 | News
34 Answers
Several councils across Britain are running muslim only sessions, and modesty clothing such as the burkini are compolsary.

Under the rules, swimmers � including non-Muslims � are barred from entering the pool in normal swimming attire.

Instead they are told that they must comply with the "modest" code of dress required by Islamic custom, with women covered from the neck to the ankles and men, who swim separately, covered from the navel to the knees.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/pol itics/6034706/Swimmers-are-told-to-wear-burkin is.html

Should swimmers be segregated in a public swimming pool? What happened to integration?
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 20 of 34rss feed

1 2 Next Last

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by Gromit. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
Used to happen all the time in the UK 100 years ago.

We've changed our views on what is and is not acceptably modest behavior but not everybody is comfortable with it.

Leisure facilities are there to serve the requirements of their customers and if there's enough demand - why not?

Maybe they'll put on some nude sessions for naturists - I wonder if the Telegraph will rage at that too?

Now where did I put my "mankini"

Ah yes

http://tizona.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/care ys_mankini.jpg

LOL, this conjurs up images of victorian men emerging from bathing tents on Brighton beach, complete with all over woolen bathing costumes!
You're looking very voluptuous Jake!
-- answer removed --
What next - you cant go on the beach in your thong , in case you offend a particular group .

However , If they want separate sessions and they are paying for the priviledge - and it doesn't prejudice the provisions for 'normal users' ; then , ok .

I would however have a problem if these requirements were to be imposed as a condition of using the facilities at any time .

Do you think that provision would be made for naturists groups - there must be a demand out there .
this sort of stupidity really makes me angry. This is the UK and if any body does not like the way things are done here they can simply chose to not live here.

just a thought........would anyone like to go to a muslim country in summer and walk down the street dressed UK style eg shorts and cammy top for women and short shorts for men and see how far they get......

There is no need for any segregation of this sort in swimming or indeed any other activity.

IMHO I think we should go down the French route and outlaw the wearing of any religious symbolism.....and I also add that only English be spoken in public places. When I hear a foreign language spoken in public I know I shouldn't, but I feel affronted. This is the UK. When I was in Paris a while ago I tried my best to make myself understood in French. In doing that I showed respect. And I may say the local population seemed very happy to help me out with the right word if I got it slightly wrong.
I am getting fed up to my back teeth (yes they are my own) with all this pandering to the Muslim minorities.

This is our country, we have invited them to our land, and as guests they should bow to our customs methinks.

Why don't we go the whole hog and build a city entirely for Muslims, where they can do entirely what they damn well like, on the condition that they don't venture out into our domain.

Now where can we site this 'Muslim City' Salisbury Plain? no that's no good, they might turn Stonehenge into a Mosque also our troops might get carried away, and think they are in Afghanistan.

Dartmoor perhaps? no that's no good, they would try and introduce Shariah Law at the prison.

Only one thing for it, where there is still a bit of spare ground, the Outer Hebrides perhaps?
About 8 years ago Kirklees council told one of their swimming pool managers that he had to run a Muslim ladies only swimming session. He said" I already run a ladies only session" but the council's said "It has to be Muslims only".
Further instructions were that he had to produce ' flyers" and distribute them to all the house in a given area, all on the swimming pool's budget.
He would have to provide an all female staff which meant him recruiting from other sports halls within the area, again on his budget at overtime rates plus travelling expenses.
There were other specifics which I can't remember but the total response was 2 women.
After 2 months he was able to call it off.
This is not an urban myth I can vouch for every word
aogTheir swimming timetable shows their are ninety-one hours available and only three of those hours (just over 3%) are for Muslims only. Are you really trying to say that non-Muslims can't fit in their swimming in the other eighty-eight hours?
That should be "there are etc..".
The London Evening Standard reports that Croydon has abandoned this idea..
Three hours???

Oh for God's sake...what's the big deal?

My local gym has a women-only aquarobics session on Tuesday evenings. I've never heard any complaints because it only takes up a couple of hours.

Another non-story to keep the dailymailers foaming at the mouth.
I bet I could get my heart rate up even more swimming in that, it's got to be harder work... And I wouldn't have to shave my legs.... Sign me up!
will they be able to wear them for Miss World?
You can't cover all that hair with a hair-net!
That's not really the point though TCL and sp.

It isn't a time issue, its a why issue.

Why should they have their own session?
It is not a �non-story�, sp. It is a perfectly valid item to bring to the attention of the public.

The organisations and authorities that are making these segregated arrangements for Muslims are doing themselves, the Muslims and the rest of us no favours at all. Devout Islam seems all about segregation and control. They would like to segregate themselves from everybody else and their women from their men. Then they seek to control how their women behave far more stringently than their men (particularly in relation to dress and free association).

That is fine if they are living in a country where the majority of the population is happy with such measures. In the UK many people are not and to make special arrangements to facilitate such segregation and control is divisive and breeds contempt and hatred.
Since the London bombings the Government has spent millions of pounds on initiatives to help with the integration of Islam into mainstream Britain. Stories like this only seem to support the general consensus that Islam does not want to integrate.
special arrangements to facilitate such segregation and control is divisive and breeds contempt and hatred.

Not in my house it doesn't.



interesting post Gromit, I live in an areathat has a large Jewish Community, this happene some years ago at our local pool but I now believe the ladies use it along with us Gentiles.
I am not totally genned up on the laws of Judaism but I was told that a Jewish lady must immerse herself up to her neck after her menstrual cycle is finished, before going to her husband/
in which case if she has to use a local pool to do so, they should have their own nights...lol
ps, I respect all religions.

1 to 20 of 34rss feed

1 2 Next Last

Do you know the answer?

British Swimmers are told they must wear burkinis

Answer Question >>

Related Questions

Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.