Photo credit: New York Times
Australian teacher Hugo Walker resigned from his teaching position at a private school in Canberra in 2013, just after he came out to his bosses that he is gay. If he remained at his job, the principal of the school could have fired him — and he could have done it legally. This is just one of many similar cases that happen in religious schools around Australia where teachers and other employees have been fired or forced to resign after revealing their sexual orientation or transitioning to a different gender. Gay students have also been under risk of expulsion, and all of this is possible because of the Australian federal law.
Australia's Sex Discrimination Act of 1984 makes it lawful for private religious schools to discriminate against teachers and students because of their sexuality or gender; meanwhile there are some protections for teachers and students on state level. There is a section in the federal Sex Discrimination Act that exempts religious educational institutions from some discrimination requirements. However, some states have passed their own discrimination laws and do not allow religious schools to reject students on the basis of sexual orientation.
There is a debate going on between human rights activists who oppose the discrimination and those, like conservative groups, who support the religious school's right to "uphold their values." This debate was sparked by a leaked “religious freedom” report, commissioned by conservative members of Parliament, who recommended the exemptions that protect schools who discriminate against teachers and students be maintained on a national level. “If a parent sends their child to a school and they are paying for that school then they expect that school in their leadership, in their teaching faculty, to uphold the values that they believe in,” Andrew Broad, the assistant minister to the deputy prime minister, told the local news media according to the New York Times.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that new laws are going to be written to protect gay and transgender students, but he made no such promise when it comes to gay teachers in religious schools, despite those schools receiving huge amounts of money in federal aid each year. Funding private schools with public funds amounts to a government endorsement of discrimination, and this type of discrimination in Australia remains rife.
Even if new laws are introduced, discrimination will remain a serious issue for the LGBT community in Australia. There is a higher chance for LGBTI people to attempt suicide in their lifetimes than for those who are not gay, transgender or intersex, according to the National LGBTI Health Alliance. Also there is still gay conversion therapy being practiced in churches around the country. These are all consequences of high level of discrimination against LGBT people across Australia.
