The challenge arises over the use of the burkini Maingain destroys the Schaerbeek regulation, Clerfayt assures that Neptunium did not authorize it This announcement made another Défi executive jump, the former president and mayor of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Olivier Maingain himself. In his municipal swimming pool, “it will be strictly prohibited to wear clothing that compromises personal hygiene such as the so-called burkini or even Bermuda shorts or shorts,” he tweeted.
Immediately inviting “the management of the Brussels swimming pools to adopt the same standard.” Let us remember that the city of Brussels also explicitly prohibits the burkini in its municipal swimming pools. In contrast, the Flow outdoor summer pool authorized the use of burkinis and even organized sessions reserved for women this summer, without this surprising anyone.
Questioned this morning in the plenary session of the Brussels Parliament, Bernard Clerfayt adopted a position divergent from that of his former party president. “To my knowledge, the pool in question did not allow burkinis. This is not found in their regulations. “It authorizes wetsuits dedicated to swimming that respect all hygiene standards, but it has not authorized the burkini.”
For the Schaerbeek resident, “it is not about the neutrality of public services. It may be legitimate, in the name of this neutrality, to impose bans on public officials to ensure the neutrality of the appearance of public services or to impose bans on minor children in schools to protect them from proselytization. But this does not translate into prohibitions for adults. I am not aware of any regulations prohibiting young adult women from wearing religious clothing while attending college or graduate school. It is not about imposing limitations on users of public services. “It would be an attack on freedom based on laws that do not exist.”
Faced with the controversy, the municipality of Schaerbeek yesterday clarified the regulation point regarding clothing authorized or not in the Neptunium basin. Article 46 of the internal regulations establishes, in essence, that “the use of swimsuits strictly reserved for this use is mandatory. Only classic swimsuits are allowed, as well as neoprene suits dedicated to swimming, which fully or partially cover the body. “Shorts, skirts and loose clothing are prohibited.” By way of comparison, the Saint-Josse Baths prohibit “bathing clothes that are loose-fitting and/or that cover the entire body.”
The president of Défi tried to calm things down this morning on Twitter, denouncing an “abusive interpretation” by some media outlets and inviting “secular people of all political convictions” to stop “fighting among themselves.”
