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Old French women's anti-pants law killed

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PARIS, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The French minister for women's rights confirmed a centuries-old law banning women from wearing trousers was struck down and "is nothing but a museum piece."

The law, passed in November 1799 and amended a century later to allow women to wear trousers when "holding the handlebars of a bicycle or the reins of a horse," was confirmed to have been repealed last week by French Minister for Women's Rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, France 24 reported Monday.

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The law was "incompatible with the principles of equality between men and women that are written into the constitution, as well as in France's European engagements," Vallaud-Belkacem said.

"Because of this incompatibility, this [law] is implicitly repealed. It has absolutely no legal effect. The document is nothing but a museum piece."

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