Following massive community backlash towards a new proposal for a tolerance-focused anti-bullying program in lieu of Safe Schools, the creator has issued an apology and withdrawn the campaign from public consideration.
Ben Grubb, former tech editor for Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, has published a public apology on Medium addressing the controversy.
“I launched and organised this letter as a personal, unpaid project and there was no ill-will or malice intended – just good intentions,” Grubb begins, leading to his explanation.
“One of the biggest mistakes I made— and it was made by me alone — was in the drafting of the letter, with the word “acceptance” omitted from the framework proposed for teaching, and the letter referring to not seeking seeking “approval” of the way certain members of our society live.”
“Instead, the words “tolerance” and “mutual respect” were used. Acceptance was removed during the drafting after confidentially consulting a Canberra decision-maker on what they believed the government would potentially back to fund such a program. I approached them regarding the letter.”
The apology follows not only community criticism of the proposal, but condemnations from signatories of the original petition, including comedian/broadcaster Em Rusciano.
Grubb also addressed concerns that the celebrity signatures on the original petition were all from cisgender individuals and was not representative of the wider LGBTIQ+ community, trans and gender diverse people.
“Some of those who identify as transgender or intersex — and their parents — also took issue with the letter referring to gay people being 14 times more at risk of committing suicide while not also referring to transgender or other LGBTI peoples’ statistics,” Grubb wrote.
“They remarked further that the group of signatories was not diverse enough, highlighting that while there were many LGBTI allies on it, there were not enough from the LGBTI community itself.”
“If I had my time again, I would have done things differently, chosen better words and consulted more widely with the LGBTI community on how the LGBTI youth of Australia can be helped before getting people to sign up.”
The original petition is no longer available on Change.org.
