Presbyterian Church Australia says captains should not be ‘actively’ gay, have sex outside marriage
A powerful church that runs some of Queensland’s most prestigious schools is fighting for the right to ban students who are gay or having sex outside marriage from leadership positions.
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Students who are “actively” gay or having unmarried straight sex should not be school captains, a church which runs some of Queensland’s most prestigious colleges has told a discrimination review.
The Presbyterian Church Australia argues those students would “not be able to give appropriate Christian leadership in a Christian school which requires modelling of Christian living”.
The church, which operates 20 schools nationally and four in Queensland, also wants to retain the right to discriminate against staff who are unmarried, gay or gender diverse if they do not “live out the whole Christian faith consistently”.
Some of The Presbyterian Church’s schools include Brisbane Boys’ College, Somerville House, Clayfield College and Sunshine Coast Grammar School, which each charge annual fees of up to $27,000.
The contentious views are expressed in a submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC), which is seeking feedback on proposed changes to federal laws which would limit the ability of religious schools to discriminate based on their faith.
In the same submissions, some Queensland families spoke of being too scared to make discrimination complaints out a fear of reprisal.
The federal government wants to make it illegal to discriminate against students and staff on these grounds in faith-based schools.
As part of its submission, The Presbyterian Church cited an example of a LGBTQ+ student who had been elected as school captain.
“If this student were in an active same-sex relationship, they would not be able to give appropriate Christian leadership in a Christian school which requires modelling Christian living,” the submission read.
“This would also be the case for a student in a sexually active unmarried heterosexual relationship.
“In both cases, the proposal removes from schools the ability to determine an ethos by selecting appropriate leaders.”
Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association chief executive Shane Coppin said that it respected the rights of all of its individual students.
The association had been asked whether the association supported the views expressed by the Presbyterian Church. It was also asked if it was aware of any children in same-sex relationships having been denied leadership positions in its schools.
In response, Mr Coppin provided the following statement: “We promote equality and inclusive educational and leadership opportunities for all our students.”
Rainbow Families Queensland in its own submission said some parents were unlikely to make complaints about discriminatory treatment out of fear of reprisal or from negative experiences.
Its submission said parents would often find another school opposed to making a complaint, meaning the schools were not held to account.
“Changing the outdated Sex Discrimination Act exemptions and ensuring that children are protected from discrimination by association will positively influence the culture of exclusionary schools over time,” it read.
A submission by the Queensland Human Rights Commission said there had been 23 complaints by students in relation to the sex discrimination act since 2009.
“Most of the complaints about private education providers have been about impairment or race discrimination and therefore fall outside of the scope of this discussion,” its submission read.
Education Minister Grace Grace said it was inappropriate for any student to be denied these opportunities addressed in the submission, for reasons which have no bearing on anybody’s leadership ability.
“Being involved in leadership opportunities is a key part of school life,” Ms Grace said.
“It also raises several issues around students’ right to privacy.”
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Originally published as Presbyterian Church Australia says captains should not be ‘actively’ gay, have sex outside marriage
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