PM talks up protections for gay students
Georgie Moore |
Scott Morrison is attempting to mollify opposition to his religious discrimination changes as two parliamentary committees prepare to hand down reports into the contentious bill.
The prime minister flags the bill, designed to shield religious people from discrimination claims, will be accompanied by changes to stop schools discriminating against same-sex attracted and gender-diverse students.
“I’ve been saying that for years, that’s always been my view,” he told Brisbane radio station B105.3 on Thursday.
Attorney-General Michaelia Cash last year told Christian lobbyists the government supported exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act that let religious schools discriminate based on sexuality and gender identity.
Moderate Liberals have previously said their support for the religious discrimination bill hinges on changes to the Sex Discrimination Act.
Two parliamentary legislation and human rights committees are preparing to hand down reports on Friday scrutinising the discrimination bill LGBTIQ+ groups want scrapped.
The issue has again come to a head as Brisbane’s Citipointe Christian College abandons its bid to enforce a sexuality and gender contract.
“I don’t support that,” the prime minister said of the contract scrapped on Thursday following widespread backlash.
“My kids go to a Christian school here in Sydney and I wouldn’t want my school doing that either.”
Citipointe earlier circulated a document to parents explaining “the college will only enrol the student on the basis of the gender that corresponds to their biological sex”.
It also denounced same-sex attraction as a sin and compared it to bestiality, incest and pedophilia.
In revoking the contracts, principal Brian Mulherin expressed “regret that some students feel that they would be discriminated against because of their sexuality or gender identity”.
“As stated previously, the college does not and will not discriminate against any student because of their sexuality or gender identity,” he said.
AAP
