A Jewish, frum, city councilman in the 48th district of NY, Chaim Deutsch, has plans to provide separate swimming days for his religious Jewish and Muslim constituents on the beaches of NY. To accomplish this plan, considering the separation of Church and State and the illegality of the State providing such religious services, Deutsch will be renting the beach for 2 days this summer, days that the beach would have been closed anyway. Deutsch will pay for the rental, though sponsorships will be available, and for the lifeguards and other necessary expenses. One day will be for men and one day for women.
I am not 100% clear on why this must be called a religious issue that deems it problematic for the State to be involved in and causes opposition on legal grounds of gender discrimination. It could be considered a public need with many people wanting to swim with people of their own gender for personal reasons. I do not understand how this is defined, even though I know that many people's hang-ups on this are based on religious reasons, I am sure plenty of men and plenty of women could easily say they just prefer it that way for personal reasons as well.
Anyways, Deutsch is doing this, and some are upset and some are calling it illegal.
Kol Hakavod to Deutsch for finding a way to avoid the legal issues and being willing to pay out of pocket, to put his money where his mouth is, to benefit his constituents.
Interestingly, I foresee a problem doing this in today's United States of America. In a day and age when anyone can determine their own gender and define it as they see fit and have legal standing, how will they actually keep the beach men only on one day and women only on the other day? If a man comes on womens day and says he is a woman, how do they prevent him/her from swimming? They cant even keep the bathrooms straight in many places, they are going to try it now with beaches?
sources: NY Post, NY Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle
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