U.S. Muslims Georgia lawmakers mull bill prohibiting wearing hijabs, niqabs, and burqas in public
A Georgia lawmaker wants to prohibit Muslim women from wearing hijabs, niqabs, and burqas in public. The proposed law would modify the original 1951 anti-masking law which targeted Ku Klux Klan members. The purpose was to prevent them from committing violence while preserving their anonymity by wearing their Klan hoods. The bill’s sponsor said the law would be expanded to women driving on public roads, making it a misdemeanor to wear a Muslim traditional headwear while driving. The language of House Bill 3, however, suggests the prohibition would apply to any public property, not only public roads.
A Georgia lawmaker wants to prohibit Muslim women from wearing hijabs, niqabs, and burqas in public. Critics say the proposed law is an attack on religious freedom, noting that it comes against the backdrop of a worrisome increase in hate crimes in the aftermath of the elections.
The Atlanta Constitution reports that Republican state representative Jason Spencer introduced a bill to modify the language of an already-existing anti-masking law to include any hood or veil while posing for their driver’s license photo.
CNN notes that the original 1951 anti-masking law which targeted Ku Klux Klan members. The purpose was to prevent them from committing violence while preserving their anonymity by wearing their Klan hoods. Spencer wants to expand the law to women driving on public roads, making it a misdemeanor to wear a Muslim traditional headwear while driving.
The language of House Bill 3, however, suggests the prohibition would apply to any public property, not only public roads.
“For the purposes of this subsection, the phrase ‘upon any public way or property’ includes but is not limited to operating a motor vehicle upon any public street, road, or highway,” the new line would read.
The current law reads: “A person is guilty of a misdemeanor when he wears a mask, hood, or device by which any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed or covered as the conceal the identity of the wearer and is upon any public way or public property or upon the private property of another without the written permission of the owner or occupier of the property to do so.”
Muslim advocacy and civil rights groups sharply criticized the oppose the bill.
“The bill is a bad solution to a nonexistent problem,” executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Georgia, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, told the Huffington Post. “[Muslim women] are not endangering themselves or anyone else.
“We have a new president, but not a new Constitution. The bill is unnecessary and unconstitutional, and we intend to oppose it if it goes forward.”
