Islam doesn't force women to wear the hijab. There's nothing about it in the Quran.
It's a cultural thing, and while many women are pressured or even forced to wear it, many others wear it of their own free will.

The state telling women they can't wear it in their workplace doesn't solve the issue.
And those women who are forced to wear it are effectively banned from working now, which makes the issue much worse.

I for sure would prefer if women wouldn't be forced to wear it. But lets be realistic: banning it doesn't make things better, only worse. These women won't stop wearing a hijab, they will just stop going outside. And now you made the situation even worse for them.

thats bad, but still not as bad as the government responding with mandates on what women are or are not allowed to wear, nor is this an answer to the problem

like, how do you reckon this is going to pan out? you reckon women who actually are coerced into covering up are going to take it off when they go to public buildings (including schools), or do you reckon the men in their life just wont let them go to public buildings (including schools) anymore?

the right either has not thought about this law or is completely disingenuous about why they support it

I think it would be hard to find a leftist who is not supporting the struggle of Iranians against being forced by law to wear a hijab.

And equally we are against Western governments forcing women to not wear a hijab.

Forcing people is the wrong doing. Easy to understand, isn’t it?

They seem to be somewhat in denial about it. Which is quite sad

Opium is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of the heartless world, the soul of soulless conditions.

The answer to this by you is: Ban opium!

My answer would be: Fight oppression!

The fight is not about drugs, it is about self-determination, dignity, freedom. It is the fight against capitalism. And today the search is on how to prevent the socialist society from turning into an autocracy.

Children have questions, e.g.: Where is grandma now? Until we have a satisfactory answer to this, religion will exist. But in a free world it will no longer be addictive.

And everyone can put on or take off whatever they want. We should start with this immediately.

I am interested, what exactly constitutes a "religious symbol" for you?

When the right talk about Islam they aren't talking about the religion. They have no problem with the Muslims from Kosovo for instance. They are specifically targeting Arabs and Africans.

Denmark, Iceland, Greece and Malta have some form of Christianity as their state religion. Norway only separated church from the state in 2017. Finland requires a change of the constitution to change the church law, which gives the local lutheran church special rights. Sweden is secular since 2000, but even today grants the local lutheran church special rights.