Ex-Students Are Coming Together To Demand Anglican Schools Ditch The Right To Discriminate
"We feel it is impossible to take pride in our old school when it fails to practise the values it preaches."
Ex-students of Anglican schools around the country are coming together to urge their schools to stop fighting for the right to discriminate against LGBTIQ students and staff, saying that this kind of discrimination is totally at odds with the Anglican values these schools teach.
Last week, the principals of 34 Anglican schools wrote to members of Parliament to ask them to defend religious schools’ right to discriminate. They were referring to current exemptions for religious schools under the Sex Discrimination Act, which allows religious schools to discriminate against or refuse LGBTIQ students or staff, amongst other things.
The government recently committed to removing these exemptions after public backlash, but the letter from Anglican school heads urged them not to do this, insisting that the issue isn’t about expelling gay students, but just about giving schools “the right to employ staff who support the ethos of the school”. Just yesterday, Anglican Archbishop Glenn Davies insisted that the schools’ requests were about a “positive right to religious freedom” and had only been misinterpreted as homophobic.
Ex-students of the schools in question are calling bullshit, though, saying that laws that make it possible for schools to discriminate against LGBTIQ students and staff are totally at odds with the Anglican values their schools say they want to protect. They’re taking to every platform available to them to stand up to their former schools in a show of solidarity with the LGBTIQ community, and it’s actually pretty powerful.
The bubbling Sydney LGBTIQ community response to those Anglican schools calling for the right to discriminate against teachers is extraordinary. I haven’t seen this level of localised, grassroots mobilisations since the postal survey. Parents and alumni – queer or not- are angry.
— Sally Rugg (@sallyrugg) November 1, 2018
So far, more than 1000 current and former students have signed a group petition calling for their schools to stop asking for the right to discriminate. Ex-students from some of the Anglican schools on the list have started their own school-specific petitions too, and they’re quickly picking up steam.
See this open letter from Meriden ex-students, which has reached more than six hundred signatures in two days. The ex-students wrote that they were “dismayed” and “appalled” to see their school had signed on to the open letter, saying that such a stance was totally at odds with the values they associated with their education.
“For many of us over the years, Meriden has been a place of sanctuary and opportunity where we felt supported, safe and encouraged to be ourselves,” the letter reads. “Pastoral care has always been the cornerstone of the school, and as students, we were taught to treat each other with kindness. The Christian ethos we learned was centred on love, grace and compassion.”
“We feel it is impossible to take pride in our old school when it fails to practise the values it preaches.”
The letter also slams the school for the damage its stance has already done to LGBTIQ staff and students, warning that “this public statement of intolerance will cause untold damage to the students to whom Meriden owes a duty of care. The school is sending a dangerous message to young LGBTQIA+ people, who may already be struggling with their identity, that the Christian values of love and acceptance do not extend to them.”
“We believe it is unacceptable that the school would also threaten its LGBTQIA+ staff in this way. LGBTQIA+ teachers enrich the school community, and are as dedicated and capable as any other member of staff. The suggestion in your open letter that they are not suitable to mentor young people, or that they might ‘denigrate the beliefs and teachings’ of the school, is shameful. ”
After the head of my high school signed a letter to MPs defending the school's right to discriminate, I felt I needed to write about some of the things teachers said about sex and homosexuality in classes I attended. It's ugly stuff. https://t.co/1OGwQB4GZe via @smh
— Louise Schwartzkoff (@LouSchwartzkoff) November 3, 2018
A petition started by ex-students of Danebank Anglican School, which has accrued close to 400 signatures so far, expressed similar sentiments.
“The ethos and values demonstrated to all of us in our time at Danebank, is not to do with sexual orientation, gender identity, or any of the other attributes described in the act.” the ex-students wrote. “On the contrary; to discriminate against a person based on one of these attributes is what threatens the
ethos and values of a school that teaches love and service.”
“Your statement, released on Danebank’s Facebook page, describes Danebank as a community that welcomes and embraces people, regardless of their faith, sexuality or culture. Please show us that this is true. Please show the girls in your care right now that you stand up for what is right, and reject discrimination and injustice.”
“Most importantly, please show those girls in your school who are LGBTQI+, who are some of the most vulnerable members of your school community, please show them that you love them, care for them, and support them.”
As disgusting as it is that so many schools continue to hold their ground and insist on the right to discriminate, it’s comforting that their students are making it so clear that doing so is intolerable. The kids are alright.
Feature image: Nimal Skandhakumar/Flickr CC.