A [Bristol] City swimming pool has launched a weekly swimming session open to Muslim women only. The city council said the entry criteria for the one-hour sessions at Easton Leisure Centre have been changed in response to requests from the community.Council spokesman Simon Caplan argued that limiting entry to Muslims was aimed at allowing wider access:
Until now the sessions on Sunday nights have been open to Asian women only and are in addition to two women-only sessions at the pool. The city council said the change was made after a request to take part from some non-Asian Muslims - a growing community in the area during the past few years as more Somalis have settled there.
"The aim was to open it up to all the city's Muslim women, regardless of ethnic origin, and not just those who are Asian - particularly important in Easton as there are a large number of non-Asian Muslims living in the area."It's seems strange to find Liberal Democrats using public facilities to promote religious segregation. But maybe I'm behind the times, and they're just following party policy.
[...]
Easton's Liberal Democrat Councillor Abdul Malik, who is himself a Muslim, said the change was a sensitive issue. He said: "In an ideal society, everyone would be fully integrated and we could have multicultural swimming sessions."
UPDATE
Turns out, Bristol Lib Dems are bucking party policy. Liberal Democrats Policy Briefing 14 (pdf) sets out the party's commitment to fighting discrimination on the basis of religious belief. Their proposed Equality Act is intended to:
Protect people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the basis of religion or belief. This legislation will be equivalent to existing race discrimination legislation and would apply in fields such as employment, education and the provision of goods and services.So, what's going on in Bristol?
