Gender-Segregating Signs in Kiryas Joel Cause Controversy
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Signs that appear to call for gender segregation on streets in the Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel have raised some hackles.
The color-coded signs posted along Forest Road — blue for men and red for women — designate separate sides of the street for men and women. The signs were made by a private individual and are not endorsed by the village in New York State’s Orange County, according to News 12.
Similar signs are posted in New Square, home to a Hasidic community in Rockland County in suburban New York City.
Proponents of the signs claim they offer suggestions for times when there is heavy foot traffic, while critics such as the New York Civil Liberties Union contend that it could develop into a violation of civil rights.
In 2012, the village of Kiryas Joel built publicly financed gender-segregated blue and pink playgrounds for children. The village agreed to halt segregation at the parks following a court order in March.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
