First, I would like to say that I am 29 year-old woman of French-Canadian descent. For the past five generations, my family has lived in Western Canada, and as a result has fought many battles to practice our culture and speak our language outside Quebec, not to mention the many historical struggles as Acadians and Quebecois. That said, words cannot express my grave disappointment that it is Quebecois, my brothers and sisters in the struggle for cultural and linguistic rights in Canada, who have denied the girls their rights to practice their faith and their sport.

Under the guise of "safety," and "mandatory application of regulations," the Quebec Tae-Kwon-Do federation has acted in a racist and ethno-centric manner. This is a harsh description that the organization certainly does not want to hear, but it is unfortunately very accurate. And what makes it so accurate, is that the decision to disallow Muslim women's harmless external practice of faith during play was rendered with narrow and ignorant analysis.

French-Canadians should intuitively know that rules are not always just and that rules should be open to review and re-evaluation in efforts to make them just. Noting the rules that prevents scarves under helmets, and noting the team's participation, the referees and M. Jean Faucher should have immediately looked to review and re-evaluate the rules rather than blindly apply them.

However, from what I have read, they did not do this. Instead they claimed that Muslim women endanger themselves if they choose to practice Tae-Kwon-Do and wear the hijab simultaneously. International referee Stephane Menard went even further suggesting that hijab is akin to equipment when he said "the equipment that is allowed under the World Taekwondo Federation rules doesn't include the hijab" (Toronto Star, April 15).