I Support This Because Women Should Never Be Made Faceless in the Name of God. Portugal has just banned the full veil in public spaces. And a statement from its president particularly struck me: “The face must be considered a central element of human identity and communication.” I support this. I have spent years fighting compulsory hijab because I believe women must be free. But covering a woman’s entire face is different. The face is how we recognize one another, communicate, and participate in public life. A society has a legitimate interest in requiring people to show their faces in shared public spaces. And please don’t call the burqa or niqab “women’s liberation.” I come from a region where women are erased from public life in the name of religion. I am against forcing a woman to wear hijab. I am also against the ideology that tells women they should disappear behind a veil. I grew up in the Middle East. I saw how Islamists gradually turn demands into norms, and then frame any resistance as an attack on Muslims. Women should not be erased. Not by the state. Not by religion.