A water park in the southern French city of Marseille planned to hold a swimming day for Muslim women who wear full-body swimsuits, sometimes called burkinis, and immediately found itself in hot water with right-wing politicians.
The event, planned for September 17, is being organized by a local women's organization. Approximately 220,000 Muslims live in Marseilles.
Politicians from both sides of the aisle took to Twitter to respond to the event. While conservative politicians called the event an effort by the Muslim community to segregate themselves from the rest of the city, others slammed the reaction as Islamophobic.
"This sort of event should be banned," Florian Philippot, adviser to far-right National Front party leader Marine Le Pen said, warning of a "risk of public disorder."
Meanwhile French socialist senator Samia Ghali said on Twitter that the issue was an unnecessary controversy that feeds into the confusion over the real challenges of our battle."
Another politician, Patrick Mennucci, added, "Swimming while covered - is it against the law? No. Privatizing a place is authorized. This is anti-Muslim controversy."
Organizers of the event asked women who planned to attend the event not wear bikinis, and to at least cover the area between their chests and their knees.
While there will be a male life guard on duty, no other men over the age of 10 will be allowed to attend the event.
