A group of reporters was not allowed inside the Walloon Parliament on Friday because the sound engineer was wearing shorts – disallowed for men in the official rules.
Three journalists (two men and a woman) working for Belgium's Francophone public broadcaster RTBF who came to interview a Walloon MP, were not allowed inside by the Parliament's security guard, according to the broadcaster's director Charlotte Collin.
But since there is no rule against women wearing shorts, the trio proposed a solution: the soundman would wear Collin's skirt and she would put on her male colleague's shorts.
The guard, who was a member of the military police, went to inquire if this arrangement was allowed and came back to confirm to the journalists that everything was in order like this: the rules only mention shorts, not skirts.
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"I had to go to the toilet to remove my skirt. Our colleague, Quentin Ceuppens, came to get my skirt and then passed it to the soundman," Collin said. "Yet my skirt was shorter than his shorts were."
For Ceuppens, the "deadpan attitude" of the guard when he explained that the rules were set was particularly comical. "You could see that he felt like bursting into laughter, but his job did not allow him to."
Once everyone was dressed according to the rules, the interview was then able to take place without any problems in the building, reports RTBF.
"There is a decision of the Parliament's office which states that the wearing of shorts or Bermuda shorts for men is not allowed," the Walloon Parliament later confirmed. The same source specifies that this rule, which dates back to 2018, is clearly indicated in a document entitled "information for visitors."
"This rule applies to many other public and non-public buildings. There are many institutions that have this type of rule without it bothering anyone," a spokesperson said, pointing out that "decent dress" should be worn in Parliament. "We are not going to make an endless catalogue of what is or is not decent."
