DFW Scraps 2 Planned Wudu Stations as Abbott Alleges Religious Discrimination
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 20
DFW Scraps 2 Planned Wudu Stations as Abbott Alleges Religious Discrimination
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 20
Summary
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport dropped plans to add two public wudu washing stations in men’s and women’s restrooms after Gov. Greg Abbott targeted such facilities as discriminatory.
Abbott asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate DFW and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and said his office is reviewing grants tied to the stations.
DFW said the decision came before Abbott’s Friday letter but acknowledged officials were aware of his and other public officials’ emerging concerns; Houston kept its existing station open.
Muslim leaders and religious-liberty scholars rejected Abbott’s argument, saying accommodations like wudu rooms, kosher food or low-sensory hours do not unlawfully exclude others.
The dispute lands amid a broader rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric in Texas politics, where about 313,000 Muslims live and Abbott is running for reelection.