A couple of points... what children actually exhibit true homosexuality even when being children they have not even reached puberty. Hence the crap being discussed re them is moot.Grand Mufti challenges gay teachers’ rights to work in Islamic schools
Australia’s Grand Mufti has signalled open hostility to gay teachers in Islamic schools in defiance of Bill Shorten’s proposed changes to discrimination laws, saying they engage in “abnormal practices that contradict nature” and suffer from “mental illness”.
The intervention from Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly, whose standing as Grand Mufti is disputed by the Australian National Imams Council, comes amid splits in the Coalition over how religious freedom protections should apply to teachers.
In the wake of the leaking of the Ruddock review into religious freedoms last week, the Opposition Leader has demanded the removal of legal exemptions allowing faith-based schools to discriminate against teachers on the basis of sexual orientation
The push from Mr Shorten comes ahead of the crucial weekend by-election in Wentworth, which is home to one of the largest LGBTI communities in Australia.
Labor’s proposal would require Scott Morrison to expand his pledge to shut down laws, introduced by Labor in 2013, allowing students to be expelled from religious schools for being gay.
Mr Shorten’s proposal faces the prospect of opposition from some Islamic leaders, with nine of the 12 Sydney seats that voted against same-sex marriage being held by Labor MPs, including the electorates of Labor frontbenchers Chris Bowen, Tony Burke and Jason Clare.
Sheik Hilaly yesterday told The Australian that homosexual teachers should “not impose their lifestyle on the rest of society, especially schools which are supposed to provide an environment of learning and culture and not a club for those seeking to satisfy their desires”.
While Christian leaders have also defended the right of faith- based schools to hire staff who uphold their religious teachings and values, Sheik Hilaly yesterday demonstrated a stronger reluctance towards having gay teachers in Islamic schools.
Sheik Hilaly, whose reappointment as Grand Mufti of Australia last month by Imam Abdul Taub Raza at Logan Mosque in Queensland has been challenged, yesterday said gay people suffered from a “mental illness”.
Speaking through a translator, he told The Australian: “We are a free democratic society that believes in diversity and human rights and we reject constrictions on the rights of others even if they are afflicted with abnormal practices that contradict nature.
“In such cases, we must respect their humanity and deal with the issue as a mental illness that requires care and treatment.”
Josh Frydenberg, a prominent Jewish politician, yesterday suggested the government was open to accepting the push by Labor to introduce extra protections for gay teachers, a position the Prime Minister would not endorse when grilled in question time by Mr Shorten. “I don’t think there’s any room for discrimination, be it a student or against a teacher,” the Treasurer told ABC radio. “But that being said, we need to work through this process with the Labor Party and ensure that we provide front to the country.”
The Australian understands Mr Morrison will not move to extend additional protections to gay teachers, but will focus on closing the exemption for students. The treatment of teachers will instead be unveiled when the government delivers its considered response to the review of religious freedoms led by former Liberal attorney-general Philip Ruddock.
Addressing Labor in parliament yesterday, Mr Morrison said the government did not “take kindly to being lectured on these issues when you created the laws which created the discrimination”.
Nationals MP Andrew Broad, in a sentiment shared by other conservative Coalition MPs, also argued in favour of the ability of non-government schools to discriminate against gay teachers if they did not uphold the key values of the school.
“If a parent sends their child to a school and they are paying for that school, then they expect that school in their leadership, in their teaching faculty, to uphold the values that they believe in,” he said.
“The school needs to be able to employ people that hold the values the parents expect.”
Mr Shorten said he was “pleased both sides of politics are now united in the view that exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against children should be removed”.
“I believe we can use this goodwill to go further and remove the exemption that would allow a teacher or school staff member to be sacked or refused employment because of their sexual orientation,” he said.
Labor MPs also spoke out yesterday, defending the ability of faith-based schools to hire staff who supported the key tenets of their religion.
NSW MP Chris Hayes, who holds the western Sydney seat of Fowler, which recorded a 63.7 per cent no vote against same-sex marriage, said: “Having a close association with religious schools, I know that there’s some teachers who are in same sex relationships.”
“I don’t think that’s the issue. I think a good teacher is a good teacher. I think the issue may be if someone decided to go out and expand upon or promote their relationship. That might be seen to be acting against the principles of the (school’s) faith. That could be seen as a different thing.”
Victorian Labor senator Kimberley Kitching said religious schools should be able to fire teachers if they did not teach the “ethos” of the school, including on same-sex marriage.
“That is different from the removing of the discrimination of the sexual orientation of the teacher,” she told Sky News.
Labor frontbencher Michelle Rowland, whose northwest Sydney seat, Greenway, voted against same-sex marriage, said the issue of allowing religious schools to ban gay teachers was “vexed”.
“Of course you have particular religious schools who may well expect their teachers to be able to teach a certain religion or adhere to certain values,” Ms Rowland told Sky News. “But it really does get to what was described as the thin end of the wedge.’’
Being gay does not make one a bad teacher or a bad person and as such sexuality should never be discussed or come into question. This making this point also moot. Mind you some gays and activists like to advertise their sexuality everywhere. In which case it should be either ok for a school to dismiss them on the grounds that they are not doing their job properly and or they could use them as an example of what the school does not stand for and as such be protected from any legal actions or recriminations by the gay person involved.
