Lou Correa Will Keep Hijab-Clad Lady Liberty Painting In Office Despite Outrage

A painting depicting a hijab-clad Statue of Liberty hanging in the office of Rep. Lou Correa (D-California) in Santa Ana, California, has sparked outrage among the right-wing activists.

The painting was one of the entries shortlisted as a part of an annual student Congressional Art Competition. Thousands of high school students from across the United States take part in the art contest every year that began in 1982.

A Claremont-based activist group — We the People Rising — attacked the painting and called it a "violation of the separation of church and the state."

Read: Video Shows Malia Obama Being Carted Out Of Lollapalooza In Chicago

The activist group, on its website, wrote the citizen lobbyists discovered the painting in Correa’s office during an open house reception on June 22. The group also stresses that according to the Muslim faith, a hijab-clad woman is a devout Muslim.

“A Muslim definition of what a hijab signifies, shown below, was presented in the packet to Rep. Lou Correa (D-California) in order to clarify that the painting of the Statue of Liberty, in a hijab, signals that she is a Muslim. Displaying this painting in a U.S. House of Representative’s office is a violation of the separation of church and state, according to a legal consultant who analyzed this issue said on the website.

The activists have threatened to stage a protest on Sept. 11 outside Correa’s office to demand the removal of the painting, according to the Orange County Register, a local news website. “It’s a bad example for our congressman. He shouldn’t have anything religious in his office. I would like to see our Congress people be right-down-the-line patriotic,” Mike McGertrick, an activist with We the People Rising, said.

Despite protests, Correa said he did not see anything objectionable in the painting. He said he got the painting approved by the Office of the Legislative Counsel and there was no legal issue with him displaying the art in his office.

In a Facebook post, Correa made it clear he did not intend to take down the painting. He wrote: “The young woman who painted this is trying very hard to show people that she is an American. If I took down her painting, I’d be telling the world her experiences don’t matter and she did something wrong.”

“You take it in the context of a lady, probably a Muslim American — with all that’s going on, she’s a proud American. That’s what it says to me,” Correa said.

Read: What does the Statue of Liberty Stand for 125 Years Later?

“This is an art competition for our high school students. I want out students to express themselves through art. To take it down would signal that this is not welcome and that would send the wrong message,” he further said and stressed he would not take down the painting only because of a few complaints.