A New York City Council member says he will sponsor gender-segregated beach days for his Jewish and Muslim constituents this summer.
Democratic City Councilman Chaim Deutsch announced the first-ever “Southern Brooklyn Beach Day,” hosting separate dates for men and women on a rented beach behind Kingsborough Community College in Manhattan Beach.
Deutsch says he plans to pay�for the needed city permits and costs himself on days the beach is normally closed.�A college spokesman said the costs are $400 per day, to cover cost of lifeguards and other staff.
Deutsch says he’s sponsoring the event because he has a number of Orthodox Jewish and Muslim constituents in his district who haven’t been able to have a beach day because of their religious beliefs which forbid mixed-gender swimming.
Men and boys can go from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on June 29. Women and girls can go for the same time period on July 27. If necessary, a rain date will be announced.
Visitors will be allowed to park by the school for free.
�Enjoy a private day in the sun and sand at the beautiful, secluded beach at Kingsborough Community College,� a flyer publicizing the event reads.
However, the plan may run into issues with the city�s Human Rights Commission. City law says public accommodations cannot exclude people based on gender unless there�s an exemption �based on bona fide consideration of public policy.
The New York Civil Liberties Union said in a statement that the separate swim days would impose gender discrimination on a city beach.
�What chutzpah. People don�t have the right to impose gender discrimination on a city beach simply because it�s mandated by their religion,� said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director.
�It is one thing for the city to provide reasonable accommodation for religious practice, and quite another to limit the public access of everybody else.�
(YWN / AP)
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5 Responses
There are enough other beaches to go mixed swimming on that same day, just are there are enough other Patisseries who will bake a cake for a same gender [so called] marriage.
Donna Lieberman is lying. He’s paying for permits on days the beach is normally closed, so it isn’t preventing the public from accessing the beach. It’s more like renting a closed beach for a private men’s/women’s party. The only chutzpa here is the deep-rooted resentment harbored by the anti-religious NYCLU director and NY Human Rights Commission.
Ms. Lieberman is a Islamophobic racist. How can she be so insensitive as to discriminate against the Muslim religion? I hope that CAIR will go after Donna.
Unfortunately I don’t think this will work out too well in a liberal-day-in-age. Now-a-days some parts of the population “don’t know” if they are male or female and may “identify” as one or the other- thought anatomy may dictate differently. Just look at the bathroom situations.
Thank you Councilman Deutsch!