Maplewood Muslim Fencer Asked To Remove Hijab For ID Photo: South By Southwest Festival

Organizers at the South By Southwest tech festival in Austin, Texas, have come under fire after a volunteer requested that a Muslim world fencing champion from New Jersey remove her hijab to take an ID photo.

According to soon-to-be U.S. Olympian and Maplewood native Ibtihaj Muhammad, the volunteer asked her to remove her hijab – a headdress traditionally worn by Muslim women in the presence of men outside of their immediate family – as she arrived for registration.

“Even after I explained it was for religious reasons, he insisted I had to remove my hijab for the photo to receive my badge,” Muhammad wrote on a Saturday Twitter post.

In addition, the volunteers eventually gave her another person’s ID badge, Muhammad claimed.

During a February appearance at a Baltimore mosque, President Barack Obama lauded Muhammad’s achievements and brought up her recent declaration that she will be the first Olympian to wear her hijab while competing.

“Muslim Americans are some of the most resilient and patriotic Americans you’ll ever meet,” Obama said.

• See related article: Obama on Mosque Visit: America Needs to 'Lift Up' Muslim Community

"It is not our policy that a hijab or any religious head covering be removed in order to pick up a SXSW badge," festival organizers told the Chicago Tribune. "This was one volunteer who made an insensitive request and that person has been removed for the duration of the event. We are embarrassed by this and have apologized to Ibtihaj in person, and sincerely regret this incident."

According to the Tribune, U.S. passport rules permit a headscarf in an ID photo when the wearer provides a letter stating it is worn for religious reasons.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons