As soon as it was confirmed that the Orange Anglican Grammar School’s principal was one of 34 NSW Anglican school leaders to sign a controversial open letter to federal MPs social media went in to overdrive.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The letter calls for religious exemptions to stay in place despite the federal government's decision to introduce new Religious Discrimination Act to protect LGBTIQ ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning) students.
According to the school’s principal Reverend Louis Stringer this is a religious issue and has nothing to do with sexuality.
While there was plenty of talk on social media about discrimination and the school’s apparent lack of support for its LGBTIQ ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning) teachers and staff, according to Mr Stringer this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In the interests of the school adhering to it’s own educational, social and moral codes it’s vital it have teachers willing to support those codes.
Mr Stinger told the Central Western Daily he has no intention of firing staff or expelling students purely because they identify as being part of the LGBTIQ community.
He said he signed the letter so the school could hire teachers who followed the Christian ethos not so the school could discriminate against students or staff based on their sexuality.
In fact he said the school already had students who identify as LGBTIQ and they were afforded the “same love and compassion” as every other student.
School plays such an important role in guiding and supporting young people that it’s vital all who attend it feel welcome and included.
It makes sense, however, that a school that teaches Christian values and Christianity would want to employ teachers who are willing to follow the Christian ethos.
This doesn’t mean all the teachers need to be Anglicans, they just need to be Christians, even if they’re not active members of their church.
According to Mr Stringer, when employing staff he needs to be able to question them to ensure they share the same belief system as the faith-based school.
While this may be viewed as a form of discrimination, it’s clearly not intended to be.
In the interests of the school adhering to it’s own educational, social and moral codes it’s vital it have teachers willing to support those codes.
It’s good to hear that at this school at least sexuality and religion are separate issues.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS AND VIEWS?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below …