Schools reluctant to accept the presence of gay students will increasingly risk charges of homophobia, according to a leading commentator on education.
Author and columnist Christopher Bantick has weighed into the debate over an elite Queensland school's refusal to allow students to escort same-sex partners to their formal.
"What is certain is that schools are likely to face increasing pressure to be accepting of gay or lesbian students," Bantick wrote in a newspaper yesterday.
"If schools reflect the society in which they operate, then same-sex partners are a fact of contemporary social relations.
"Schools that adopt an exclusive or hardline approach against gay students run the risk of being accused of endorsing homophobic attitudes," he said.
Bantick said schools in some states, including Queensland, also risked anti-discrimination lawsuits as private schools were not exempt from the legislation.
Anti-gay bullying, he said, amounted to vilification.
"One of the primary themes of bullying - cyber or physical - is homosexuality. A brief look at June Factor's book, Kidspeak: A Dictionary of Australian Children's Words, Expressions and Games, shows the derivations available to taunt someone of being gay. It is not a short list.
"More than this, schools are ideally placed to do something about homophobia. To call someone a faggot or a lezzo might be cool with your friends, but it amounts to vilification.
"What schools need to address is how they are going to respond to students who are openly gay in a social setting, such as a formal," he said.
The school at the centre of the formal row, Brisbane's Anglican Church Grammar School, has reiterated its ban on same-sex partners at the school formal, as have Queensland's Catholic Schools.
"The Catholic Church has a particular vision of family and sexuality flowing on to a responsibility to model this vision for children through formal activities in the life of the Catholic school," Queensland Catholic Education Commission executive director Mike Byrne told Brisbane's Sunday Mail newspaper.
"As such it is not seen as appropriate for students to attend an event such as a school formal as a same-sex couple."
However, the paper reported other secondary schools were more relaxed about the issue.
The principals of both Brisbane Girls Grammar School and St Aidan's Anglican Girls School said students were welcome to bring partners of the same-sex to school functions.
Queensland state high schools also have their own guidelines regarding school formals, with no restrictions on same-sex couples.
Schools reluctant to accept the presence of gay students will increasingly risk charges of homophobia, according to a leading commentator on education.
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