Topless protest against PQ values charter inside legislature

A topless protest against the Parti Qubcois valuescharter erupted inside the Quebec legislature in a screaming,semi-nude act of defiance that derailed the daily question periodTuesday.

Women began removing their clothes while Premier Pauline Marois was answering a question.

The premier had been asked about a payroll tax and had justuttered the words, "[We're]taking action now," when shoutserupted in the gallery and everyone's eyes, including the premier's,drifted upward.

As the protesters disrobed, they chanted a slogan against thepresence of the crucifix in the chamber:

"Crucifix, dcalisse,"they repeated,a crude, sacrilegious Qubcoisexpression looselytranslatable as, "Crucifix, get the hell out of here."

The demonstration was quelledas numerous security guards pulleda trio of still-half-naked protesters away from the chamber andstruggled to dress them.

The whole affair was in reaction to the Parti Qubcois'sapproach to state secularism, which has been described ashypocritical and uneven byits detractors.

The PQ's proposal would leave the Christian symbol looming abovethe chamber where Quebec's laws are passed; Christmas trees wouldremain in public offices; and the giant cross would stay on thepublic land above Montreal's Mount Royal.

That's because those Christian symbols are part of Quebec'sheritage, the PQ says.

However, lower-level employees of the state would be forced toremove their hijabs, turbans, yarmulkes, and larger-than-averageChristian necklaces.

If the plan does notpass the legislature in its current form,it could either be watered down, or preserved for use inthe PQ's next election platform.

FEMEN claims responsibility

The group "FEMEN Quebec" claimed responsibility for thebare-breasted brouhaha.

"[We're]an organization of artists-activists fighting fordemocracy, for the affirmation of a Quebec identity influenced bycultural diversity, for the liberation of women from contemporaryaesthetic dogma and for better communication between men andwomen," said a Facebook page.

It also dismissed the idea that the national assembly cross wasintegral to the Qubcoisidentity.

It noted that the crucifix was only placed there under theDuplessis regime after 1936, as a symbol of the pact between hisnowdefunct Union Nationale party and the church.

"[This]crucifix stems from the Great Darkness," the groupsaid, employing a term commonly used to describe Maurice Duplessis'spre-Quiet Revolution Quebec.

"[It's]a painful memory, especially for women. That renewal ofthe pact between the church and the state is not at all a heritageworth honouring. No to a government that accepts the presence ofreligion at its bosom. Yes to state secularism!"