New Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has told The Australian that he is opposed to the Safe School Coalition, a program that aims to reduce bullying on LGBTIQ students in schools.
Mr Joyce said it was important that primary school students felt safe in bathrooms, and parents did not want their children to know about transgender people at a young age.
“In any school, the vast majority of teachers would say that we have a clear identification for very good reasons as to who is a girl and who is a boy, and that people feel safe when they go to the bathroom,” Mr Joyce said.
“Social entrepreneurship works completely at odds with what the mums and dads who send their kids to school want and we will always be on the side of the mums and dads.”
Last week, when asked by OUTinPerth, opposition leader Bill Shorten said he supported the program.
The program is available in over 500 schools across Australia and is federally funded. Education website The Conversation has published an overview of the program highlighting it was based on extensive empirical research and there is little evidence that it indoctrinates students into being gay.
Last year the Australian Christian Lobby vowed to close down the program and launched a major campaign against it’s implementation.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham has agreed to examine the programs content but the Australian Christian Lobby has argued that the program should de-funded and pulled from all schools immediately.
Local journalist argues kids shouldn’t learn about LGBTIQ issues in school
WA Today columnist Karalee Katsambanis has published a column outlining her opposition to the program. The mother of three said there is no place in schools for discussion about LGBTIQ issues.
Mrs Katsambanis, the wife of Liberal MLC Peter Katsambanis, said many people in the LGBTIQ community were opposed to the program but were too nervous to speak out because they feared reprisals.
The columnist also voiced concern about how a gay teacher may deliver the program differently to a teacher who was religious, describing it as a “can of worms”.
“A gay teacher may deliver the information in a completely different way to someone who is deeply religious. And some teachers simply feel that they should not be delivering these lessons in the first place.” Mrs Katsambanis wrote.
The journalist said many people had told her she was “brave” to share her opinions on the topic because gay and lesbian lobbyists would attack her over her views.
Sources
If Barnaby had been givrn the benefit of a Safe Schools program, he may be more tolerant and understanfing of things he clearly does not understand.