Is accommodating a religious group in a public pool a constitutional violation?

S

Seahawk

12
No men allowed: Women-only pool hours draw complaints in NYC

NEW YORK – A New York City municipal pool that maintains female-only hours so that Hasidic Jewish women can swim with no men present has raised alarms among critics who say the accommodation to a particular religious group violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

But defenders say the women-only swim sessions at the Metropolitan Recreation Center give women whose community separates the sexes a rare chance to exercise.

"Why deprive them?" said New York state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat who represents a heavily Orthodox Jewish district in Brooklyn. "Really, you're not taking away from anyone else."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/0...ntcmp=ob_article_footer_text&intcmp=obnetwork
 
The last time I went to a YMCA pool was back in the 1960's (okay, maybe the 50's). Anyway, it was all naked men. Let's make America naked again.

I would venture to guess that female only swimming hours would allow any female, not just Hasidic Jewish women to swim. That is gender exclusion, not a separation of church and state problem. Until we decide that letting women (at least good-looking ones) into a nightclub for free is a problem, then I fail to see how letting any female swim at the Y, regardless of christian, jewish, hindu, or muslim faiths, is a constitutional problem.
 
mogur said:
The last time I went to a YMCA pool was back in the 1960's (okay, maybe the 50's). Anyway, it was all naked men. Let's make America naked again.

I would venture to guess that female only swimming hours would allow any female, not just Hasidic Jewish women to swim. That is gender exclusion, not a separation of church and state problem. Until we decide that letting women (at least good-looking ones) into a nightclub for free is a problem, then I fail to see how letting any female swim at the Y, regardless of christian, jewish, hindu, or muslim faiths, is a constitutional problem.
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You might be right, but if the intent is for religion, then that changes everything. When it comes to discrimination, intent is an odd thing. If you intend to discriminate, it is held against you, if you didn't intend to discriminate, but it is still discrimination, it will be unconstitutional.
 
I agree, it is not about political correctness. Women of any religion should be given the right to their privacy. However, if it is about the religion itself, then no, they should not be allowed to privatize a public convenience, based only on religion. If a religion requires unusual circumstances, then that religion should not expect public deference. That religion must provide private facilities for those proclivities.

Okay, now I'm just using the thesaurus as a bible. Going to bed, now.
 
normal accommodation for religion should be in play here - not interfering with the public's usage, but if it's after hours
and not interfering on public access - that's not discrimination. The article does not make this clear.
 
I have no problem accommodating Hasidic Jewish women, because they're not in the habit of exploding or shooting-up public facilities.
 
The university where I go swimming imposed a women only session on Saturday afternoons last year. It is bloody ridiculous the lengths they go to protect those shy females. So much so that they black out the windows and only have female lifeguards in attendance. It is more of the safe space bullshit that emanates from the US.

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I would rather see such an arrangement made at public pools than see free speech shutdown on college campuses and the institution of safe spaces. The former isn't particularly inconvenient, and doesn't teach society particularly bad habits, while it stands a great deal of chance to do some good. The latter is just publicly instituted intellectual cowardice and dishonesty, which has a great potential to damage free speech and to teach a generation of young people that cowardice is acceptable and desirable.
 
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