Headscarves, Homosexuals, and Imams in the Netherlands

Abstract

The wearing of headscarves by three Moroccan girls in a French public school in the autumn of 1989 was considered an affaire d'état, debated up to the highest official level. For most Dutchmen this turmoil was quite amazing. In the Netherlands, earlier that same year, echoes of the Rushdie case did lead to a heated debate, which reached cabinet level. However, public polemics on Islam soon settled down and henceforth the few controversies over the wearing of headscarves in public schools and other similar incidents were usually settled quickly at the level of school or, in the worst cases, municipal administrations. Since a year and a half ago, however, a series of incidents seems to indicate that something has changed in the Netherlands.