With hearings on the secular charter due to begin Tuesday morning at the national assembly, many Quebecers are wearing overt religious symbols today as a form of protest.

“Today basically is just to show up to work, to their everyday life and adopt one of the four symbols the [Parti Québécois] is planning to ban, so either the hijab, the turban, the kippah or a large cross,” said Sama Al-Obaidy, the creator of the Support Another Facebook page.

She started the Facebook page after an incident in the Montreal Metro about five weeks ago.

Sama Al-Obaidy her sister Yusr, and good friend Nariman El-Doraini started Support Another after Sama was attacked on the Metro. (CBC) “A lady came up and tried to remove my hijab forcefully,” Al-Obaidy said.

“She told me my hijab and myself don’t belong in Quebec and after a few exchanges of words she decided to start pulling on my veil. As it started getting loose I had to eventually stop her,” she said.

The attack is one in a long string of altercations that have occurred since the PQ announced its proposed secular, or values, charter.

The charter would ban overt religious symbols in the public sector workplace.

Al-Obaidy decided to organize a day of action for today, just before the start of the Bill 60 hearings.

On Sunday, Al-Obaidy, along with her sister Yusr, her good friend Nariman El-Doraini, Hampstead Mayor Bill Steinberg and others, handed out kippas and other religious symbols for people to wear on Monday.

The Facebook page links to videos on how to wrap a turban and hijab.

Stay tuned to the CBC Montreal website for coverage of the Bill 60 hearings.