Fury over gender ban in Bordeaux Muslim grocery store

From the Telegraph

The south-eastern French wine capital of Bordeaux is up in arms over a Muslim-owned grocer’s decision to impose male and female-only days for customers.

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A small sign outside the De L’Orient à L’Occidental (From East to West) store stipulated that women were only welcome on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday and Fridays.

Men, on the other hand, were kindly asked to take their custom elsewhere on weekends.

The gender split was put in place by the store’s owners, recent converts to Islam, to make sure women and men do not meet.

But it invoked the wrath of local authorities, with Bordeaux mayor Alain Juppé calling for authorities to intervene to “put a stop to such discriminatory practices” that could lead to “criminal charges”.

He said he “firmly condemns behaviour that is totally contradictory to the rules of the French Republic’s rules on equality and (gender) mixing

Florian Philippot, vice president of the far-Right Front National, waded in to the row, saying: “If it proves correct, they should close down this shop that is flouting our laws and basic principles”.

With the controversy snowballing on Monday evening, the owners decided to take down the sign.