Citipointe Christian College Is Threatening To Sack Teachers For Being Openly Gay
The contract was dated after the school pulled its controversial student contract.
Just a month after apologising to students over a controversial gender-identity student enrolment contract that called homosexuality “destructive to society”, Brisbane’s Citipointe Christian College is now asking teachers to sign a similarly homophobic contract.
According to The Guardian, teachers at the Christian school have been asked to sign a contract that requires them to abide by the statement of faith of the International Network of Churches.
“It is a genuine occupational requirement of the college that the employee not act in a way he knows, or ought reasonably to know, is contrary to the religious beliefs of the college,” the document, observed by The Guardian, says. “Nothing in his/her deliberate conduct should be incompatible with the intrinsic character of their position, especially, but not only, in relation to the expression of human sexuality through heterosexual, monogamous relationships, expressed intimately through marriage.
“Your failure to abide by such requirements expressed in the above clauses could constitute a breach of your employment contract and subsequent dismissal.”
The legality of the document has been questioned, with Queensland law allowing religious bodies to discriminate in some limited circumstances, but lawyers have challenged whether the sexuality clause abides by the state’s anti-discrimination law.
“My legal opinion is that this contract is likely to be found unlawful under Queensland anti-discrimination laws,” said Matilda Alexander from the LGBTI legal service told The Guardian.
It is unclear if the school has sought legal advice on this — as it did with the gender identity contract — but Citipointe has since noted that the wording of the teaching contract is “under review.”
The Guardian alleges one former teacher of the school has already effectively lost his job for refusing to sign the contract. “Not signing this contract was my choice, but I have effectively lost my job to discrimination,” he told The Guardian.
The new contract comes just weeks after the school — which charges up to $12,180 per child per year — withdrew a similarly controversial contract, which resulted in headmaster Brian Mulheran stepping aside following backlash.
“I hope that by withdrawing the contract we can return all our focus to the Christian education of our students,” Mulheran said after withdrawing the contract.
It is worth noting that the contract observed by The Guardian is dated in February, after the withdrawal of the student contract, and is signed by the new acting principal. Junkee has reached out to Citipointe Christian College for comment.