‘Don’t Google it’: Mum to sue after 14yo daughter taught about ‘bestiality’, ‘incest’ in SA public school
A group of Year 9 school girls were allegedly taught about topics including “bestiality” and “incest” and told “don’t Google it”.
A group of Year 9 public school girls were allegedly taught about topics including “bestiality” and “incest” and told “don’t Google it” in a presentation by a local Headspace centre last year encouraging acceptance of LGBT identities.
Nicki Gaylard, 42, pulled her 14-year-old daughter Courtney out of Renmark High School in rural South Australia last April after her class was shown highly inappropriate and explicit sexual content without parental knowledge or consent.
The SA Department of Education has since apologised, saying the presentation was “not acceptable”, while Headspace — a youth-focused mental health charity — has also apologised.
However, Headspace has still refused to provide her with the PowerPoint.
Ms Gaylard, a mother of six, is now preparing to sue the state government in the District Court of South Australia with the aid of faith-based legal organisation Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International, to ensure other families do not go through the same experience.
The hour-long presentation was part of a Respectful Relationships program meant to “promote LGBTQIA+ inclusivity and acceptance”.
“The first slide said ‘We can see queerly now,’” Ms Gaylard told news.com.au.
“The Year 9 girls were shown all kinds of slides to do with the LGBT community. They were shown pictures of gender transitions, bare chest scars. They were shown a list of words that included ‘bestiality’. The girls were like, ‘What does that mean?’ With a giggle [they were told] that it means having sex with animals ‘but don’t Google it, though’.”
The presentation allegedly referenced incest with presenters using the terms “sister love” and “brother love”, while images were shown of “trans bodies”, from the waist up, where scars from double mastectomies were visible.
“From what I could tell, the way it was presented was that it was fun to try these things,” Ms Gaylard said.
“Man and man, woman and woman, women being men, men being women … They talked about things like if you weren’t trying different things you weren’t having fun, kind of opening them up to all these different experiences.
“These vulnerable young teen girls who are already confused, growing up with their bodily changes, why not throw in some random disgusting stuff?
“Some of the other girls … [said] they felt if they didn’t leave the room and try different things and possibly be gay that there was something wrong with them. That’s the message they received. They felt inadequate.”
An emotional Ms Gaylard said her daughter “knew something wasn’t right” and walked out of the presentation about 30 minutes in.
“I could sort of see these things coming in [to the culture] and basically pre-warned my children that if at any point anything makes you uncomfortable, it is your right to get up and leave,” she said.
“I taught my daughter to be strong … I’m not there, that was my tool to give them to look after themselves. It makes me sad in a lot of ways that a lot of the other girls didn’t have that strength to walk out.”
Ms Gaylard moved her two school-age daughters to Catholic school, but has since shifted to homeschooling.
She describes herself as “not particularly” religious. “I love kids, I’m all about a mother protecting her children,” she said.
Ms Gaylard is now “strongly considering” considering legal action “to take this forward for the sake of other kids across the country who shouldn’t have to go through what my daughter went through, and for all the parents who should never be sidestepped in this way”.
The school did not inform parents ahead of the session, nor did it provide any opportunity to consent or withdraw their children, and no teacher was present.
“Parents send their children to school expecting an education and them to be kept safe, not exposure to explicit sexual content,” Robert Clarke, director of advocacy at ADF International, said in a statement.
“Yet that basic trust was broken. No parent should be kept in the dark about what their child is being taught, and no child should be placed in an unsupervised session dealing with adult themes.
“Sadly, Nicki’s case is an example of a larger pattern.
“Increasingly, parents are discovering that radical approaches to sex education — often shaped by internationally-developed curricula and promoted by activist groups at the national level — are being quietly rolled out. This case is about drawing a firm line: parental rights matter, transparency matters, and safeguarding children is not optional.”
A spokeswoman for the SA Department of Education said, “What happened at Renmark High School was not acceptable. It was an isolated incident and steps have been taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“Current providers have gone through a rigorous process to be approved, to give parents and students the confidence that the sexual health education in public schools is quality, based on evidence, and the nationally consistent Australian Curriculum is delivered.”
After the incident, the Department suspended the Headspace branch involved from delivering the Respectful Relationships program to public schools.
A spokesman for Headspace National said that the presentation was arranged by the local health provider that operates Headspace Berri under licence, and delivered by an external presenter.
Headspace National conducted a review of what was delivered in the presentation and the process by which the external presenter was engaged and their presentation vetted for appropriateness, he said.
“Headspace National’s review found that while the presentation was intended to promote LGBTIQA+ inclusivity and acceptance and acknowledge the historical and continuing discrimination and challenges this community faces, there were aspects of the presentation that were not appropriate for young people,” he said.
“As a result Headspace National has strengthened the guidance provided to lead agencies (i.e. operators) of Headspace centres to ensure greater oversight and care in community awareness and engagement activities to ensure they are suitable and safe.
“This includes the selection of third-party presenters and the review of all third-party content presentations. This guidance applies to all operators of Headspace centres.”
At the time of the incident, South Australian Education Minister Blair Boyer wrote a letter to Ms Gaylard also apologising for the “unacceptable” presentation.
“I am assured that students were not taught about bestiality, but a reference to the historic criminal treatment of gay men was made,” he wrote. “I am also assured there was no content related to incest.”
Ms Gaylard has hit out at the implication in the letter that her daughter and other girls had lied. A spokesperson for the Minister did not clarify to Sky News what evidence he had based his assurances on but said “the letter still stands”.
The mum says her daughter’s childhood was “shortened through exposure to completely inappropriate material that Headspace won’t even let me see”.
“How can they be happy to show to children what they are ashamed to show to adults?” she said. “Let children be children.”
Originally published as ‘Don’t Google it’: Mum to sue after 14yo daughter taught about ‘bestiality’, ‘incest’ in SA public school
