Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-fg-scarf22jan22,1,7285044.st ory?coll=la-news-religion

On January 22, 2004 the Los Angeles Times reported, "Teachers and some religious leaders fumed Wednesday over a government minister's call to ban beards and bandannas from classrooms along with Islamic head scarves, Jewish skullcaps and Christian crosses...On Tuesday, Education Minister Luc Ferry said the planned ban on religious symbols could also apply to facial hair and bandannas, the latter sometimes worn as an alternative to the traditional Muslim head scarf. In a parliamentary debate, he said that 'if a beard is transformed into a religious sign, it will fall under the law.' Likewise, he said, a bandanna 'will be banned, if young girls present it as a religious sign.'"