An Italian city council has promised to support a Muslim woman who says she was refused gym membership because she was wearing a hijab.
The 28-year-old Italian woman had reported the incident to the city council of Mirandola.
She wrote in a letter to the mayor that the owner had “refused my membership because I dress in a not-very-western way. I asked for clarification and he replied that in his gym he doesn’t let in nuns or Batman, alluding to the veil that covers my head”.
The gym owner ended the conversation by saying: “My gym, my rules,” she wrote.
The Moroccan-born woman who has been living in Italy since 1999, said in her letter: “I know the law, the constitution and its principles, and there is no excuse for what happened to me.”
The municipality of Mirandola voiced its solidarity with the woman and condemned the incident.
The city council has met her and promised its support for any legal action taken against the gym owner.
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