﻿

Michael lives in a northeastern town that is nowhere near as bad as London, but already he feels the need to speak up against sharia and the niqab. In a bid to prove equality, he entered a bank (Lloyd’s, notorious for giving out sharia mortgages and loans) and he attempted to make a deposit. He was successful, but the manageress came over to chastise him about his full facial covering. Michael rightly insisted that he was wearing a face covering for religious reasons and that he was afraid of sexual assault if he was showing any kind of flesh.

Joshua Winston – Where did the inspiration for the video come from?

Michael – I had been in a Facebook argument with some people about the niqab and faces being covered. I felt I had to make a statement and do something about it. Either everyone gets to cover their face or no one does. It’s not just about niqabs and crash helmets. It’s about safety and security. There were also no signs outside of the bank saying that people with covered faces couldn’t enter, and yet I was tackled by the manageress.

JW – Was there a final straw for you and a moment when you thought, “F*ck this”?

M – I live in North East England. We don’t have it as bad up here as the rest of the UK does, but already I’m sick of the double standards and the lies and excuses about the niqab being a religious item. I’m tired of people using the “religious” excuse and I’m tired of the ignorance of people who don’t even question or investigate their statements.

JW – The footage is a bit rough. What was the manageress saying to you?

M – She was really just whining that we couldn’t film in the bank. And she questioned my face covering as really being a religious and sexual necessity.

JW – You were wearing a balaclava, do you think you’d have gotten a different response if you’d worn even the top half of a niqab? You know, those ones that they pull to the side in order to eat? They always remind me of horsey-feeding bags.

M – That wasn’t the issue for me, the issue was the fact that you could not identify me in that bank. I could have been a female bodybuilder and no one would have known or have been able to identify me had I committed a crime.

JW – Is this a religious or a feminist issue for you, or both?

M – It’s a security and equality issue. If anyone is allowed to enter a public space, then it should go both ways. Men should be able to do it just the same as women are. But no one should be allowed to go around with their whole face obscured.

JW – Why are they getting away with it?

M – People are scared to be deemed as racist. It’s that simple. And they are using it as a weapon against us.

JW – Have you done any other type of activism?

M – Not before. This is my first, and the wife is giving me hell for it.

JW – Can we expect more from you in the future?

M – Let’s see what the Mrs. says.