Christian Schools In Western Australia Oppose Protections For LGBT Students
Christian schools in Western Australia are sounding the alarm against the state government’s plans to make changes to the Equal Opportunity Act and introduce law reforms to protect LGBTQI students in religious schools. The Australian Association of Christian Schools claimed that they may be forced to shut down their institutions in WA if the government’s proposals become law. In other words, the association is claiming they would rather shut down than protect LGBTQI students from discrimination. Last week, Western Australian Attorney General, John Quigley said that the government broadly accepted the 163 recommendations by the Law Reform Commission after its review of the Equal Opportunity Act. ACCS claimed that the recommendations “fail to protect religious freedom… (and) traditional views on sexual and gender expression.”The peak body for Christian schools said that the law reforms would “impact the way Christian schools employ staff and enrol students, making it difficult for schools to employ staff and preference families in enrolment who share the beliefs of the school.” “Unless the Government pushes back against some of these recommendations, it will be very difficult to operate a Christian school according to Christian principles and beliefs once they become law,” ACCS Executive Officer Vanessa Cheng said in a statement. ACCS has asked its members to send a message to their respective political representatives opposing the law reforms.