Australian government censors LGBT anti-bullying lessons after ‘review’
The Australian government has ordered that issues related to transgender people be pulled out of anti-bullying lessons, following a right-wing campaign.
The Safe Schools program, which was commissioned up by the former Labor government, launched in 2014 and teaches about LGBT issues in schools in a bid to battle bullying.
However, right-wing PM Malcolm Turnbull ordered a ‘review’ of the programme after a sustained campaign from the homophobic Australian Christian Lobby and anti-LGBT MPs, who claim it is “dangerous” and “brainwashing” students.
After the ‘review’ of the scheme, the government has this week made changes – restricting a number of LGBT resources from being used in classrooms, meaning they will only be available in one-on-one discussions with counselors.
The programme has also been banned from primary schools entirely, links to third-party LGBT support websites will be removed from resources, and much of the material regarding transgender people has been purged Funding will also be ended beyond 2017.
Militantly anti-LGBT government backbencher George Christensen bragged about the changes, saying “It’s all going.
“Boys in girls’ school uniforms, girls and boys using the same toilets, classroom role plays where kids imagine they have no genitalia or they’re gay … I doubt the Safe Schools Coalition – who came up with with the weird and wonderful elements of this, attempting to instil queer theory, sexual liberation and Marxism into classrooms – will accept this.
“And if they don’t, the funding will be cut.”
The Labor Party has accused the government of capitulating to right-wing “bullies” on the issue.
