EXCERPT:
Over the last couple of weeks, a political battle over wudu amenities at Texas airports escalated when Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to cut funding to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and called for an investigation into George Bush Intercontinental Airport over similar amenities, arguing that providing dedicated facilities for Muslim ablution is illegal and constitutes religious discrimination. He later equated the ablution amenities to white-only bathrooms and ordered a statewide investigation.
This argument confuses religious accommodation with religious favoritism…
Shaimaa Zayan is an American Muslim civil rights advocate and the director of Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter in Austin. She holds a master’s degree in special education and linguistic/cultural diversity from the University of Texas.