Are some schools homophobic?
I am all too aware of the homophobia in schools that I experienced among my peers, but that's not what I want to talk about today. What I want to talk about is the system itself, which is run by grown adults - at least I thought it was?
I was saddened by reading the news of a gay coach in Christchurch who was sacked (according to reports) for no other reason than the fact that he was gay.
This man in his late twenties had been working with the girls' netball teams since February.
The Board of Trustees at Middleton Grange School, which is a Christian school, disclosed to the school principal that his homosexuality was a problem and therefore could not continue in the position - apparently this was due to the Christian belief that homosexuality is a sin? Hmph - not quite sure how that impacts the ability to do one's job any differently though!
What is it with the stigma that surrounds gay teachers though? This has long fascinated me and I have an entire sub-plot in a feature film script I've been developing that revolves around this very subject matter. I thought these silly reactions to someone in the education profession being gay were reserved for places like the US, but the story above has brought it all home; it's right in our own backyard.
There was also another story recently about a teenager in the US called Constance McMillen who wanted to attend her school prom with her same-sex partner.
The school told her it was not appropriate and when she protested their decision for her right to bring her partner, they cancelled the school prom altogether, causing many of her peers to turn against her.
What's the big deal? The more schools get up-tight and stuffy about these issues, the more this kind of attitude is perpetuated in the youth of tomorrow and it seems it all starts in school.
Luckily for this teen, The Ellen DeGeneres Show found out about it and the school eventually had to back down again.
In a separate incident, a student called Cole Goforth from Tennessee was sent home from school after wearing a T-shirt to school reading "I Love Lady Gay Gay" on it because it was supposedly "causing a disruption". Wow, I didn't know a T-Shirt had that kind of power? Last I checked, it was just a piece of clothing.
The pop singer heard about it and brought it to everyone's attention causing a media storm of bad publicity for the school and those involved in making the decisions.
The worrying thing is, these are all solid examples of how schools themselves are actively discriminating against students or staff who happen to be gay. If this is the ugly truth behind closed doors, then perhaps it's not such a mystery why some people grow up seeing it as being such a negative thing?
This isn't just limited to schools though as Universities around New Zealand are looking at making changes so that Student Union memberships become voluntary rather than automatic which will have a huge impact on funding for groups like the gay student group "UniQ" which could struggle to survive otherwise.
Since University is often the first time a young gay person escapes what might be an intolerant environment, groups such as this are a vital support resource for those coming to terms with their sexual identity. It would be a great shame to see them vanish unnecessarily since students already have the means to opt-out of Student Unions. Who is coming up with these silly ideas that seem to do more harm than good anyway?
Do you think there is much homophobia in the education systems here and overseas? Do you think it should be allowed to take a same-sex partner to school prom or ball or not?
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Yes there is! However, things have come a long long way even since my school days in the 80s & 90s.
Great blog Chaz, one small point though. Universities aren't trying to bring in voluntary membership of student associations, Roger Douglas is the one who put forward the private members bill attempting to make this change. I guess that's the answer to your question then "who is coming up with these silly ideas" - Roger Douglas! As a member of the University of Otago, Univeristy Council (as a non-elected student representative) I can assure you that not only is the University of Otago against this private members bill, the University Council in fact made a submission to the Select Committee against it. Representation of groups such as UniQ was one of the considerations for this decision. Not a major point, but one I thought needed to be clarified.
Thought this was a great post until I got to your point about voluntary student membership - which seems to be completely unrelated. Are you suggesting that people interested in being part of a group such as UniQ would not be able to do this without the financial support of other students? If a student union is functioning efficiently then students will choose to join anyway and the financial support of useful clubs and services will remain.
A bit unfortunate that you have linked being pro-VSM and homophobia!
As an openly gay man who spent 8 years in two different universities (Vic and Canterbury) I must disagree totally in respect to your comments about UniQ. Firstly, if Student Unions were voluntary then this affects not only gay oriented groups and clubs, but also debating, EngSoc (and the infamous Undie500) and butterfly collecting. But more importantly, these gay ‘support’ groups such as UniQ are not representative of all gay men and women at University. In fact, they become so politically liberal and stereotypical of the gay and lesbian population that most do not want to join. In fact, I know very few gay men and women who found any support whatsoever from such groups. If they did partake it was for the drinking and free pizza that was provided to ‘lure’innocent young newbies/ members into their lair… =)
I think we all know the answer to your questions...of course same sex partners should be allowed to go to school balls, and of course gay teachers should be allowed to teach. My problem with it all is that people seem to be able to hide behind the defence that it is "against their religion" and get away with it. While i think any form of homophobia is crazy, I may at least have a little more respect (not much though!) for someone who has carefully considered the issue, and decided for himself it is wrong, rather than just blindly follow whatever the church has told them. Secondly, I think people get a bit hysterical about these issues when children are involved. Now, most intelligent, rational people will understand that homosexuality and paedophilia are two entirely different things. Sure, they can overlap occasionally, but only in the same way that heterosexuality and paedophilia can overlap occasionally as well. Before anyone suggests i am just trying to justify myself....I would like to point out i am a heterosexual, with no gay tendencies at all, yet i still can't understand why others have a problem with it. I guess some people just can't mind their own business.
Not every Christan school is as backward as the ones that make the papers. I attended a Catholic girls college in Wellington and we had a couple of openly gay teachers. One of them was one the most popular teachers in school, and his partner came along to a number of school events (with their adorable puppy in tow!). No-one ever batted an eyelid, and if someone did they would be the ones getting the lashing, not the gay teacher!
I think the homophobia thing is a case of 'no news is good news', where only the extreme cases reach the media, but the generally positive environments are not interesting enough to warrant media coverage.
The school in Christchurch that is involved in this case is a super christian school. I know someone who went for a science job there and would have had to sign a disclaimer stating that they believed in god, they are a practicing christian and that they would not teach evolutional theory as the kids are taught that god created the earth in 7 days. So, when I heard yesterday that this had happened it didn't come as any great surprise considering the school involved. I know some people where I work that send their kids there and I can only say it surprises me that it took the school months to get rid of him. It is a complete disgrace!! These people try and say they are christians, but behave like bigots and hide behind "god" to do it, it always gets my back up.
Chaz, I share you mortification at the actions of Middleton Grange School's principal / Board of Trustees. I read the article yesterday and felt 1. shocked and 2. confused because... aren't Christians suppossed to be... TOLERANT? Doesn't the Bible advocate TOLERANCE? So really... by firing this poor guy, they are going against the word of God. Shame. Bet God is unimpressed by their hating. Bet not all of the Board / parents of students / students / staff were virgins 'til marriage either. Hypocrites!!!!
The Human Rights Act does have exceptions for various reasons - one of which is religion. For example the Act does allow discrimination on the basis of sex with regard to religious apppointments ie this ensures that the Catholic church can for example only "employ" male clergy etc.
Not sure whether what has been done at the school falls under the religion exemption or not - I am not a lawyer. I guess it will be determined if the guy complains to the HRC.
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My brother took his same sex partner to his school ball two years in a row.. noone seemed to have a problem with it at all. He was also a student counsellor and the leader of some group that helped kids with questions about their sexuality.. perhaps it was just that our south auckland high school was a bit forward thinking.
As for the voluntary membership to student unions.. Auckland Uni seems to have managed for the last god knows how many years and UniQ seems to get on just fine.
As for that guy getting the sack I'm pretty sure that isn't legal and definitely comes under discrimination. Alas many christian faiths do believe that homosexuality is a sin rather than just another variance of the human condition.
Its just a case I think of a few ruining it for the many. It only takes a few high profile cases of blatant homophobia for everyone to be tarred with the same brush.