Elham Asaad Buaras
The French National Assembly’s law committee has on January 14 rejected a controversial proposal to ban headscarves for minors in public spaces. Though introduced by the conservative Republicans Party (LR), the bill failed to gain traction, facing heavy opposition from across the political spectrum and internal scepticism from President Macron’s majority
The single-article bill, championed by LR leader Laurent Wauquiez, sought to prohibit “any parent from imposing on their underage daughter, or allowing her, to wear in public space any garment intended to conceal her hair.” Its rapporteur, Patrick Hetzel, framed it as a necessary measure against gender inequality and the influence of “political Islam,” arguing that “the veiling of minors reflects a relationship of inferiority between men and women.”
However, the bill faced immediate and multifaceted opposition. The most damning legal critique came from Florent Boudié, the committee’s chairman from Macron’s Renaissance party, who asserted the bill was based on a “flawed interpretation of secularism.” He predicted the Constitutional Council would strike it down, noting that the legal basis for banning face-coverings, public order”, did not apply to a general headscarf ban.
Practical objections followed swiftly. Agnès Firmin Le Bodo of the centrist Horizons party questioned how authorities could possibly prove whether a parent was “forcing or merely authorising” their daughter to wear a headscarf. Even the far-right National Rally, while supporting the principle, criticised the wording as legally vague, with spokesman Laurent Jacobelli warning it could extend to “a hood, a cap, or even a balaclava.”
The left launched a vehement attack, with MP Gabrielle Cathala of France Unbowed branding the text “unconstitutional, Islamophobic and pointless.” The presidential coalition itself was deeply split, with former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal supporting a ban only for girls under 15, a position Renaissance MP Prisca Thévenot said she would amend into the text.
Despite its defeat in committee, the bill is scheduled for debate in the full National Assembly on January 22. Its passage now hinges on last-minute amendments, though the profound divisions exposed suggest a rocky path ahead. The debate reignites one of France’s most enduring and divisive issues, echoing the landmark 2004 law that banned conspicuous religious symbols in state schools.
Photo: Laurent Wauquiez (centre), leader of the conservative Republicans Party (LR), who championed the controversial bill seeking to ban headscarves for underage girls in public spaces (Credit: WikiMedia)
