Trinity Grammar sparks outrage after lewd video of invited Pride speaker Basem Kerbage emerges

Parents at one of Melbourne’s top private schools have been left outraged after a Palestinian Pride activist with a controversial social media presence was invited to speak to students.

Parents at Trinity Grammar have blown up over a speaking invite to Basem Kerbage. Picture: Supplied

The principal of Trinity Grammar has apologised to the school’s parents after a gay Palestinian speaker with sexually explicit social media content addressed boys as part of Pride Week.

Adrian Farrer told parents at the school the speech made by Basem Kerbage last week was “apolitical and did not include any inappropriate content or references”.

The Anglican boys’ school in Kew has complained to the $25m state-funded Pride Centre who recommended Mr Kerbage and said he had been approved to speak in schools.

“We trusted the Pride Centre would recommend a speaker suitable for a school event,” he said.

“We apologise to our community for not undertaking our own assurance process in this case. We have introduced a rigorous screening process for potential future speakers and will no longer rely on the guarantees of any external organisations about the suitability of a proposed speaker for our community.”

After the event, several schoolboys quickly downloaded a clip of Mr Kerbage, in which he places a sex toy in his mouth from his Instagram page.

The video — which had no link to Mr Kerbage’s speaking event — was quickly shared by boys from years seven to ten who attended the speech, which was part of a Pride Week event about different forms of love.

Mr Kerbage’s Instagram has now been switched to private and the video is no longer visible.

Mr Kerbage is a self-described “Queer/Human Rights activist”. Picture: Instagram

A lewd video Mr Kerbage posted to his Instagram. Picture: Instagram

A spokesman for the Victorian Pride Centre said there have been “no issues raised with the speech that was given at the school”.

“There was no invitation given to review their social media account of the speaker, and it is regrettable that this has happened.

“We do not vet every social media post of the speakers on our program and we regret this has caused offence. We will be reviewing our vetting processes in light of this situation and will continue to support Pride Month activities,” the statement said.

One parent from the school said the lewd video was easily found after students were told by their speaker to search “visualise your goals”.

That led students to find the video which includes a task called “a dildo hand job challenge”.

One parent whose son showed her the video said it made her feel “ashamed” and “angry”.

Teachers’ Professional Association of Australia national secretary Edward Schuller slammed the decision by Trinity to invite Mr Kerbage as “reprehensible”.

Mr Kerbage is a self-described “Queer/Human Rights activist” whose motto is “be the change you want to see in the world”.

He is also the founder of Queer Arabs Australia and came to Trinity from a list of vetted speakers from the Victorian Pride Centre.

The government-funded centre was the first purpose-built centre for Australia’s LGBTIQA+ communities.

Until Monday, Mr Kerbage was included on the centre’s speakers list but his profile is no longer on the list.

“Our speakers are appropriately vetted and ready to engage with young people, corporate professionals and community members alike,” the centre’s website says.

Mr Kerbage did the Trinity presentation last week to the year seven to ten school boys wearing a traditional Palestinian scarf, the keffiyeh.

That has also upset many members of the Jewish community at the school who said they felt “marginalised and forgotten”.

One parent said: “Many parents are furious that the school failed to undertake due diligence in this young gay man’s extreme sex content digital footprint”.

The selection of Mr Kerbage has upset numerous parents. Picture: Mark Stewart

In response to some parents, the school said the annual Pride assembly “seeks to celebrate inclusion and diversity in our community”.

“This year’s assembly included a guest speaker sourced from a reputable government-sponsored organisation,” the school said.

“It has since been brought to our attention that the speakers’ social media accounts included inappropriate material including one since-deleted video which we understand the students have circulated among themselves.

“We have registered our deep concern with the organisation regarding the nature of the public facing material and their vetting process.”

“We regret any misunderstanding or disappointment experienced by members of our school community and for any negative impact.

“We are reviewing our process of selection for speakers.”

The Herald Sun has approached Trinity for a response.

Cyber safety expert Susan McLean said she had been contacted by several Trinity parents who were concerned about the choice of speaker.

“He (Mr Kerbage) arrived with a Palestinian scarf which was distressing to some students and when students ran his name through Google on socials they were confronted with some extremely inappropriate pornographic content,” she said.

“How any school did not check this first is a concern.”

Ms McLean said she was concerned about the approval process for guest speakers.

“If this is allowed to happen, what checks and balances are in place to ensure the presenters coming into Trinity or any school are suitably qualified and not going to be creating distress or harm?”