LIVING IN THE STONE AGE: HOMOSEXUALS NEED NOT APPLY

A REFLECTION ON A CURRENT EDUCATIONAL ISSUE IN SYDNEY RELATING TO CULTURE AND IDENTITY.

I decided to focus this blog post on homosexuality in education and social justice, since I recently read an article on the “scandal” of Target's campaign featuring Gok Wan, which caused public uproar in some circles for his unapologetic and flamboyant homosexuality (Mumbrella, 2012). It seemed crazy that in Australia in 2013, a gay man on television was still causing controversy. Isn't this an identity Australia is already familiar with? Is there not a gay and lesbian culture alive in Sydney? As I started a mindless click and follow routine online, I stumbled across a number of pockets of Australia that were still blatantly, publicly, unapologetically homophobic, including the article that I will now base this blog post on.

The article was about the Liberal party committing to 70 million dollars to encourage schools to become more independent. Okay, that's alright so far, I thought. Until I read on.

The issue was where Tony Abbott had announced this plan. It was at a Penrith Christian school, where enrolment relies on parents signing “a statement decrying homosexuality as an abomination” (Tovey, 2013) - rejecting a certain culture and identity of youth.

Attempting to summarise the situation, Tovey writes:

“The school, of around 620 pupils, is a part of the Ministry of Imagine Nations Church. The school's website includes a ''Statement of Faith'' outlining its religious principals, including that homosexuality is an ''abomination unto God''”.

(2013)

These are the sort of extreme opinions relating to culture and identity that I had previously associated with radical American cults donning KKK outfits and holding burning stakes – or possibly even strict Muslim communities – but definitely not a local Sydney school, considering Sydney is home to events such as Mardi-Gras.

The school's view on homosexuality can be linked to social justice via Young's five faces of oppression (Gewirtz, 2006:469-470). I will now briefly suggest where each comes into effect. There is exploitation of the ability of schools to be independent with legislation; there is marginalisation of the gay and lesbian community; there is a powerlessness imposed on these individuals who cannot attend the school due to their sexual orientation; there is cultural imperialism at play as heterosexuality is imposed on students; and finally there is violence in the actions and words of this school who declared homosexuality as an 'abomination' (Tovey, 2013).

However, since this article, there has been another. The title? 'Homosexuality is no longer an abomination, says Penrith Christian School' – and yes – that appears to sum it up. It seems that the pentecostal Christian school, despite saying initially they would not, were inclined to review their 'policy declaring homosexuality an abomination just hours after the Coalition visit' (Tovey, 2013). The original Statement of Faith has since been removed from the internet, and the school have tried to recover a reputation for being welcoming of homosexual students. I agree with Tovey (2013), that it is worth noting that private schools are still able to discriminate against children based on their sexuality, but the question remains why do they feel the need? Evidently it is time to educate the brains behind our schooling systems here in Australia, not just their students.

Below is a great video – I think the education should start with this – just as there are advertisements on TV about drinking, smoking, and drink driving, why not have one about the impacts of bullying an individual for their sexual orientation?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnOJgDW0gPI

(Rocco Shields, 2011)

Words: 535

References:

Gewirtz, S. (1998). Conceptualizing social justice in education: mapping the territory In Journal of Education Policy, 13 (4), pp. 469-484.

Mumbrella (2013). Target stands firm against homophobic Gok Wan complaints. Retrieved from http://mumbrella.com.au/target-stands-firm-against-gok-wan-complaints-174386

Rocco Shields, K. (2011) Love is all you need? Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnOJgDW0gPI

Tovey, J. (2013) Coalition commits $70 million to encourage public schools to become more independent, Retrieved from

<http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/coalition-commits-70-million-to-encourage-public-schools-to-become-more-independent-20130829-2sscb.html>

Tovey, J. (2013) Homosexuality is no longer an abomination, says Penrith Christian School, Retrived from

<http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/homosexuality-is-no-longer-an-abomination-says-penrith-christian-school-20130829-2st05.html>