Watch What You Wear

What will the French ban next: Red noses? Opponents of the proposed law to bar all "ostensibly religious symbols" in public schools have commonly denounced the project — primarily targeting head scarves worn by some Muslim women — as Islamophobic. But the prohibition may be much wider in scope. During questioning from the legal affairs committee of France's Parliament, Education Minister Luc Ferry said that in addition to the head scarves, yarmulkes and large crucifixes already set for interdiction, the legislation may also bar turbans, bandannas and even beards — if they were "transformed into a religious symbol, [and] thus fall...