PATH members packed Columbia Association meeting to show support of the initiative.
People Acting Together in Howard members packed the Columbia Association's tiny board room Tuesday night to provide a voice of support in a debate that never materialized. About 55 residents, concerned that opponents of a women-only swim program would ask the board to cancel the program, organized to show their support but it wasn't needed, and the program will continue — at least until January or February. The initiative is a pilot program. Association staff members will evaluate the program and its attendance after three or four months — it started Oct. 25 — to see if use justifies its existence, a staff member told Patch earlier this month. News articles about the program over the past week have elicited comments described as nasty, …
Columbia Association program allows girls and women to swim in an environment that's more comfortable for some while allowing others to adhere to religious codes.
Life-long Columbia resident Katlin Lamke learned to swim as a young child through the Columbia Association and enjoyed the activity until her early teen years. As she matured physically, she found that she got unwanted attention at the pool. As a result, she stopped swimming. Shehlla Khan, a Muslim, could not swim in co-ed settings because of religious dress codes. When her husband became ill, it was hard for the mother of three to take her children swimming when she had to remain fully clothed. In talking to other members of the Dar al-Taqwa Mosque, Khan realized many other men and women wanted separate swimming times. Lamke, Khan and several other women — and a few men — gathered Tuesday to celebrate the creation of a women-only swim …
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Marge Neal
3:52 pm on Thursday, December 1, 2011
Kelly, thanks for posting this information. more ›