THE city of Dallas has provoked an outcry by banning smelly people from its public libraries. Advocates for the homeless say that the new hygiene policy stinks of prejudice.

A new code of conduct for the city’s 23 libraries outlaws bad body odour and other anti-social behaviour ranging from mobile phone use and fighting to bare feet and public sex. The rules prohibit visitors from “emitting odours (including bodily odours or perfumes), which interfere with the use of services by others”.

Advocates for the homeless argue that the “no shower, no service” policy discriminates against the poor who frequent the city’s central library. Dallas has been criticised for years for tight restrictions on its more than 5,000 homeless people. Many of the homeless are still annoyed about being moved out of high-profile areas before the 1994 World Cup. The influx of refugees this year from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans has put added strain on the city, as evacuees receive subsidised housing first.

Library users complain about homeless people using the public toilets at the central library to wash, but activists say that bathrooms at a nearby homeless centre are often in a state of disrepair.

James Waghorne, a former homeless man who now heads the Dallas Homeless Neighbourhood Association, told the Dallas Morning News that he doubted anyone would be thrown out of the library for reeking of Chanel No 5. “Who is to decide what odour is wrong or inappropriate?” he asked.

Laurie Evans, the director of Dallas Libraries, said that her staff would intervene only in the event of a complaint.

“The intent is to provide a welcoming environment for anyone who walks through the doors,” she said. “They deserve to be comfortable; they deserve to feel welcomed in public buildings.”

The Dallas policy mirrors rules across the nation. In April, Houston’s city council sparked controversy when it approved an ordinance outlawing “offensive bodily hygiene that constitutes a nuisance to others” from libraries. A federal appeals court also upheld a library’s right to expel smelly people in a 1992 case brought by a homeless man after he was kicked out of a reading room in Morristown, New Jersey.

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