Saturday, April 12, 2008
Gay partners banned at religious school formals
The headmaster of Brisbane boys' high school 'Churchie', the Anglican Church Grammar School, has said that he is willing to 'debate' a rule that allows boys to take only a female partner to their year 12 formal, thus discriminating against any guy who wishes to take a male partner. What exactly there to debate?
Headmaster Jonathon Hensman claimed ""My attitude is these are minors, this is a very sensitive issue". Sensitive because they're minors? What the hell kind of excuse is that? The attitude expressed there is that someone can know they're straight and act as such before they turn 18, but 'teh gays' are somehow different and don't know their true sexuality until they wake up on the morning of their 18th birthday, therefore a 17 year old who identifies as gay may in fact just be a little confused and so he shouldn't be allowed to take his boyfriend to his school formal in case he wakes up in 12 months' time and realises it's all been a horrible mistake and if only he'd taken a girl to the formal his life wouldn't have been ruined. Ruined!
Or something. How very patronising.
What are these people on?
On the one hand, I'm glad to see that society and/or the school has come far enough that there are students who can say "I'm gay, I want to take my boyfriend as my partner to my formal and the stupid rules should be changed to allow me to do it", because when I was in school none of the gay guys in my year dared come out until after they'd safely escaped the place. But on the other hand, I feel that we should have come even further by now and that this shouldn't even be an issue. Schools are often awful enough places to be without rules in place that institutionalise bigotry.
Of course, it's not just Churchie- when approached for comment, the Queensland Catholic Education Commission confirmed that 'teh gay' were also banned from attending Catholic School formals. Institutionalised bigotry at its best. Maybe federal funding should be denied to schools who practise discrimination... see how quickly those bastards change their tune on the issue then.
UPDATE: For anyone who wants a look at the hard core of homophobic Queenslanders at their most disgusting, check out the despicable outpourings on the comments page.
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7 comments:
Ignorant bastards.
Good post.
For those who think the politicians and government should not stick their nose into this, and that it is a church affair, I heartily agree!
The government should remove their tax free status, and stop funding the school, straight away.
With no public funding, and being a normal taxpayer like everyone else, the church has a right to do what it wants. Problem solved.
Why would you attend a school based on Christian values (as determined by the bible) -- and then be upset when they enforce to practice such teachings? Would you also attend an Islamic school and then cry discrimination if they didn't change their doctrine to suit yours? Would you not say that they are hypocritical to their beliefs and values if they suddenly changed them to suit whomever cried the loudest? We are free to choose the school that we attend. This is not a job -- it is an education and you are free to choose an education at a private school or public school. And you are free to investigate those values to make an informed decision as to whether or not you suit that community based on their belief system. Maybe analysing their values and choosing one that is suitable to your own values would be a better choice? Maybe that is worth thinking about?
a) Because they take taxpayers' money. If you want to get high and mighty about enforcing the most bigoted aspects of your religion then you shouldn't be leeching off the taxpayer while you do so.
b) Based on my experience at a 'reglious' school I would be very surprised if more than 10% of the kids who attend are sent there for the 'christian' education. Most of them are sent there because the public education system is so shithouse, and you'd be either deluded or a liar if you said otherwise. And if my experience is anything to go on, the kids themselves at the religious school I attended were more open-minded about peoples' sexual orientation than the kids at the public school I attended, despite regular anti-gay rants by the principal of the school. It was a much better environment for gay students whether they were open about it or not. I don't believe Churchie is necessarily reflecting the values of its students in its stance on the matter so much as the homophobia in the Anglican church.
c) Why the question about an Islamic school? If an Islamic school is taking taxpayers' money like Churchie then they shouldn't be allowed to enforce bigotry on their students, either. What's your point?
Oh and do you eat pork? Do you eat seafood? Does anyone in your congregation or your family approach the altar at church while wearing glasses?- all in the bible. So when you claim these schools give a 'bible-based' education, what you mean is it takes the bits of the bible that you find oh-so-convenient, and ignore all the others.
Better late than never, I've written up analysis of the readers' comments in the CM on this issue. I hope you find it useful or at least entertaining:
"Don’t rock the boat while we stone the gays" http://sam.stainsby.id.au/blog/?p=12
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