21st May, 2008
JIM WALLACE

The letters pages, blogs and airwaves were running hot recently following a front page article in the Daily Telegraph about a ban on the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ in NSW schools. “This is ridiculous” was the general tone, and to that one could only say amen!

In many ways it turned out to be a storm in a teacup. The NSW Government quickly put an end to the gay lobby’s reported push and it seems that these family friendly terms are once again allowed in school - at least for a while. 

How long, however, is debatable, as the issue is more fraught.

This incident has exposed the gay lobby’s agenda to change the social ethos of schools - supplanting traditional family relationships with terminology and teaching which normalises same-sex relationships and promotes the homosexual lifestyle. 

While it was easy for politicians and bureaucrats to dismiss the suggested language changes as “silly”, they don’t seem to be ruling out the reported existence of programs in the NSW school curriculum teaching about “same-sex attraction issues” and “sexual diversity” as part of a supposed anti-homophobia focus. And we know these types of programs aren’t confined to NSW schools.

No-one is going to defend bullying. Whether it’s because of your skin colour, your body shape, your abilities, your sexual tendencies, or even just the size of your nose. No-one deserves to be bullied and it is right and proper that this problem be addressed in schools.  

But how much is the pretext of addressing “homophobic bullying” being used to justify what is really an active promotion of the gay lifestyle in a way many would feel is inappropriate for the schoolroom? Just how much information and choice are parents being given about the material being taught to their children on these issues?

 
Last year the Australian Christian Lobby came across educational support material on the Tasmania Education Department’s website under the heading ‘Challenging Homophobia’ which, among other things, included a questionnaire for students asking questions including: ‘If you have never slept with a person of the same sex, is it possible that all you need is a good gay lover?’; and ‘Statistics show that lesbians have the lowest incidence of sexually transmitted disease. Is it really safe for a woman to maintain a heterosexual lifestyle and run such a high risk of disease and pregnancy?'

 
There is a world of difference between addressing bullying and promoting a very minority and risky lifestyle with school children. It is certainly not the sort of learning experience the great majority of parents would feel comfortable with.

It is not known whether this questionnaire is to be used in NSW schools or those in any other state, but we do know that states have a bad habit of sharing this type of initiative. A NSW Department spokesperson has admitted that all Year 11 and 12 students will do a 25-hour course examining issues relating to “sexuality and sexual diversity”.

Parents have a right to be concerned if, at an age when their teenage children are discovering their sexuality, gay relationships are being presented to them as a normal, mainstream option despite studies showing only about two per cent of the Australian population are homosexual and health statistics for that community being, in reality, disastrous. 

Education departments have a responsibility to declare fully the content of the curriculum. 

Jim Wallace, AM, is the managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby.

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