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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 10132
[Civil]
Date Posted:
6/9/2004
8:18:06 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 8,085
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Comments: 16
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ACLU Files Swim Suit
Author: WOWT (NE) Source: WOWT (NE)
Title: ACLU FILES SWIM SUIT
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Muslim woman who claims she was told that she had to remove her religious garb to accompany her children through the gate of an Omaha swimming pool.
Twice last summer, Lubna Hussein says she was turned away from Deer Ridge pool, her children in tears, because the city said she had to wear a swimsuit.
Lubna says, "I'm a Muslim and I must wear a scarf and long sleeves. No dress. I have to wear like a nun."
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Community Thoughts: There are 16 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| What? | Jun 11th. at 5:34:56 am EDT |
by Nesha Nightwolfe (OKC) - wc_xemail
I'm sorry, but I cannot believe that the ACLU is wasting their time over something this dumb. Well, actually, I CAN believe it, since the ACLU has nothing better to do than file nuisance lawsuits over stupid non-issues like this. The pool won't let you in b/c you refuse to follow their rules for proper dress? Cry me a river. Poor baby- you have to follow the rules. Go find a different pool to swim in. Go to any apartment complex & use it's pool. Go to Wal-Mart & buy one of those big inflatable pools. Don't cry "Discrimination!" just because you're not allowed to disregard the rules because of your religion. If places of business had to bend their rules to accomodate everyone's religious beliefs, there would be no point in having any rules at all. This is not religious discrimination. They did not refuse to allow her in b/c she's Muslim, she was not obeying the pool's rules for dress, so they had every right to not let her in.
God, the idiotic things that people sue over these days. I bet they're going to ask for thousands if not millions of dollars for "pain & suffering" too. No wonder there's all this talk about tort reform. We need it. Sorry, maybe I'm just not liberal enough, but I just think this is dumb. I hate it when people raise a huge stink over stuff like this & start suing left & right rather than just *going somewhere else*.
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| You Have To Look At This Not-so-angrily | Jun 10th. at 2:04:51 pm EDT |
by tonayallicue xanthe (midwest) - wc_xemail
they were just worried about her wanting to go in the water with all that on is prolly all.
do u realize that you're not supposed to go into a jacuzzi with certain washed clothes on, thats why they prefer you go in nude, becuz all these bubbles from the laundry soap make the water look like a bubble bath.
it's their own ignorance, .......this is a sure sign that we need more cultural dialogs in america if we want to survive as a united country. this would be an excellent opportunity to start!
i used to have a neighborhood pool kinda thing when i lived in military base housing as a kid.....we were not allowed to bring floaty stuff, so when people came with it, guess what happened?
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| Pool Rules | Jun 10th. at 12:34:56 pm EDT |
by tooticky (Seattle) - wc_xemail
As someone who has lifeguarded and enforced pool rules, I want to clarify for people what reasonable pool rules are.
When it comes to clothing, anything other than cut-offs can be worn as long as the clothing is clean. Cut-offs clog the filters with fabric fibers. If the clothing hinderes the swimming abiltiy, a patron would be asked to remain in the shallow area.
Each patron must rinse off completely before entering the pool; all clothes should be completely wet before entering the pool. Shoes may be worn only if they are not street shoes and have never been worn outside. I have been a lifeguard at pools where Muslim families come to wade and play in full dress. Preventing a mother from accompanying a child to the pool is the greatest safety risk. Not that she might fall in. Just wanted to clear that up for people.
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| I Know How Hard... | Jun 10th. at 12:21:26 pm EDT |
by Raven Rose (Grand Rapids, Michigan) - wc_xemail
it is to be a Muslim woman. I know this because I practiced the religion for a year and a half, in full garb. I'm talking the face veil and everything. If anyone here is from Grand Rapids, Michigan you can only imagine the difficulty that I faced. especially with trying to get a job.
People discriminate and somehow get around the loopholes.
I believe that the person who pushed this mother aside might have had either consciously or subconsciously did so out of prejudice. I am not one to judge because the person might indeed have been enforcing policy.
All I know is that the whole thing is silly and the mother was just wanting to watch her children but she couldn't because she was wearing her garb, in my view there is no problem with that as long as she minds the pool and stay on the deck. She had every right to do so, Muslim garb or otherwise.
She was just being a mother and protecting her children.
Blessings Be,
Raven Rose
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| Stupid People.... | Jun 10th. at 10:23:24 am EDT |
by Seshen (Texas) - wc_xemail - Web
If the woman wasn't going swimming, what difference would it make what she wore?
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| It's Mothers, Not Muslims | Jun 10th. at 3:32:52 am EDT |
by Stormwalker (North Dakota) - wc_xemail
I had the same thing happen, even though I am not Muslim, and assured the staff that I wasn't going to swim, or go near the pool. My children needed help getting in and out of their suits. I was told that I had to watch from outside the fence, and that my children would have to dress and undress in the park, outside the fence, if they needed assistance. My children and I found the idea of them dressing in public objectionable. Yes, they could have come in suits, but still needed to change, before getting into the car.
Another point, I was unwiling to send my children unaccompanied into the dressing room/bathroom. A safety precaution that should be understandable, even to petty beaurocrats, and teenage employees.
We no longer go to the public pool, but instead go to the private pool/health club, at exorbitant fees, or to a pool at a local motel.
Mothers and children are a 'target' for petty rules.
Children often just disappear, from the pool area, slipping past both mothers and staff into the park. It is frightening to think what could happen if someone wanted to remove a child, while a mother thought said child was in the bathroom.
Rules are sometimes meant to be broken...or changed.
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| Let's, Hmm... | Jun 10th. at 2:11:09 am EDT |
by Dmitri (usa) - wc_xemail
1) a standing policy was enforced.
2) someone pointed out that the policy was a problem.
3) the policy was changed.
What's the problem? ...
" her attorney says this isn't about getting money. They are, nevertheless, still seeking damages for the alleged embarrassment and humiliation they claim that Mrs. Hussein and her children suffered."
The story leads one to believe that this was a one-time occurance rather than an ongoing issue. Does this entitle someone to money?
Maybe the tv preachers are right; The country is going to hell...
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| I Dont Have A Problem | Jun 10th. at 1:45:33 am EDT |
by Michael MN (St. Paul, MN) - wc_xemail
I actually dont have a problem with this. As far as I can tell
1) The city put a a reasonable rule about not allowing non-swimsuit attire in the pool area. There are a number of good reasons for such a policy, including the possibility of kids in dirty jeans jumping into the pool.
2) . The person on duty at the pool simply enforced this rule - I assume that he had no particular discression in this matter. There is no indication in the article that he was rude or tried to humiliate the woman in question. The suggestion that she watch from outside the restricted area could have been an attempt to suggest the best alternative availible for the woman.
3) Once informed of the hardships placed ont he woman, the city properly changed the rule to accomadate her, others in her position, as well as those whose medical problems also limited them in this regard. This was an intelligent and completely proper response.
Now there may be other facts here that I am not aware of that woud change my opinion in this matter, but it seems to me that the situation was, overall, handled properly. I certainly dont think anyone was trying to impose a religious bias on the use of the pool.
Michael
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| Maybe A Safety Issue? | Jun 10th. at 1:44:31 am EDT |
by sevenfirearrows (McKenzie Bridge, OR) - wc_xemail
I really hope this is just a safety issue- that the concern is, if she should happen to fall in the pool while swathed in all those layers of clothing. (and I hope they have the written dictates of their insurance company at hand, to refer to, when taking this stand!)
Otherwise, IMO it is a stupid, unkind and very offensive thing.
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| Public Safety | Jun 10th. at 12:33:29 am EDT |
by Valerion (Marysville, WA) - wc_xemail
As long as the woman was opnly going to watch her children swim, then I see nothing wrong with her wearing her street clothes on the pool deck.
However, in the interest of public safety, if she was going to swim then she would need to be attired in some type of swimwear. This has been challenged else-where and upheld.
But the way this story reads, the pool staff were wrong in their treatment of this mother.
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| Shameful | Jun 9th. at 11:40:06 pm EDT |
by Darkcrone (Knoxville, TN) - wc_xemail
What the staff at the pool did to this woman was cruel. Most of the staff at the pool should be fired. They were not following policy, they just wanred to insult islam by humiliating this poor woman.
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| Silly Alright... | Jun 9th. at 11:00:33 pm EDT |
by Serendyn (ID) - wc_xemail
Very silly to assume that someone should abandon their beliefs in favor of accepting what was obviously an unfair government restriction.
The city was wrong, and apparently caputulated only when threatened with legal action. Very noble, but did it need to go that far.? Forgive me for further silliness, but when we as a society fail to accomodate those who's beliefs are not those of the majority, who's to say which freedoms are next to be denied?
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| On The One Hand... | Jun 9th. at 10:57:14 pm EDT |
by Aspasia (Chicago, Illinois) - wc_xemail
The Muslim woman has a right to wear her layers of clothing. On the other, I can see how this can set the foundation for a bogus lawsuit if someone can't remove their shoes in a pool area because of religious reasons, then when they fall, they want to sue.
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| I Usually Support The ACLU, But... | Jun 9th. at 10:06:00 pm EDT |
by Pleiadian Floater (Minneapolis, MN) - wc_xemail
, , , freedom of religion means the government can't tell you what religion you can or can't practice. It doesn't mean that policies, silly or not, that are applied to all, have to have exceptions made for equally silly religious beliefs. People who choose to restrict themselves to particular activities, modes of dress, etc. have no basis for complaint when it turns out they have to take the consequences of that decision.
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| Stupid People .. . . | Jun 9th. at 8:50:55 pm EDT |
by KarEEna (Perth, Australia) - wc_xemail
That is the stupidest policy I have ever heard! The poor woman just wants to watch her kids swim for crying out loud! I go to a leisure center for yoga every week and the main income for the center are the pools. They have indoor and outdoor heated pools (its winter over here now) and there are always hordes of people sitting on the steps watching their kids, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, etc swimming laps. Its not very exciting viewing but they do it anyway . . .. and they are in full dress plus overcoats and scarves cause it gets cold at night!
Although, I wouldnt have sued for monetary damages beyond a lifetime membership to the pool and a public apology. They should be publically shamed for such a stupid move.
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