Government inquiry into anti-queer discrimination in schools a ‘top priority’

The government is making an investigation into anti-queer discrimination in schools a “top priority”, after concerns were raised that some Christian educators have included policies that are harmful to LGBTQI students.

Jan Tinetti, co-minister of education, a former school teacher and principal, said well she asked education officials to urgently examine schools’ practices and policies on inclusivity to ensure that “every student” feels safe – regardless of gender identity or sexuality.

“It is my absolute top priority to ensure that all young people are safe in our schools,” Tinetti said on Wednesday. “When something comes to light in one school, it is the norm that the ministry will look at other schools to see if it happens elsewhere.”

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She said she had asked the Ministry of Education along with the Education Review Office to investigate and come back with a range of options.

“I can assure people that this will be done in a hurry. There is nothing more important to me than ensuring the safety of our young people at school. ”

Tinetti roof well she was also drafting guidelines to ensure that all New Zealand schools include the rainbow community.

“I only recently released guidelines to all school boards on anti-bullying. I feel it needs to go further to address the LBQTIA + community in particular, ”she said.

well revealed foreign lawyers Gordy Lockhart, a businessman from Tauranga, and Shaneel Lal, a law student and activist from Auckland, wrote to the government asking for an investigation into “institutionalized homophobia” in some New Zealand schools.

Earlier this month, following a complaint from Lockhart, discriminatory language about marriage and gender was exposed at Tauranga’s undercover Bethlehem College, a Christian school that also receives state funding.

The college’s stance on gay marriage and gender identity has caused public outrage and has given rise to allegations that students are being harmed.

well also revealed the college has a work document on gender, and a former trans student at the school tried to end their life after the school refused to use their pronouns, threatening suspension because they wore a uniform of their preferred gender and said to them, “God does not make mistakes.”

This week, three more state-integrated Christian schools were identified with similarly discriminatory and anti-queer language: Maranatha Christian School in Lower Hutt, Cornerstone Christian School in Palmerston North, and Matamata Christian School.

Matamata Christian School, for example, states in its public statement of beliefs: “Homosexual, lesbian, or any other relationships or partnerships are seen as the effects of mankind’s rebellious nature and are therefore inconsistent with the school’s special Christian character.”

Under the current education system in Aotearoa, religious schools are allowed to receive state funding if they are approved as state-integrated schools, with relevant documentation signed off at the Ministry of Education.

Following the revelation this month that Bethlehem College added its discriminatory statement on marriage ten years after signing its state integration agreement, the college was instructed to remove that statement from its documentation.

As of Wednesday, June 29, the statement will no longer appear on the college’s website.

A similar process of government intervention could soon take place at other schools, Tinetti said, depending on what the ministry’s investigation revealed.

Education Ministry spokesman Sean Teddy said that under the Education Act, state-integrated schools are legally entitled to have a special religious character, but how those beliefs were operationalized should be the integration agreement and the requirements of the New Zealand Bill. of Rights Act 1990. and Human Rights Act 1993.

“It means not discriminating against anyone.”

Professor Claire Breen, an expert in human rights law at Waikato University, said that although religious schools are entitled to their beliefs, if they take public money, their agreement with the ministry places a restriction on those beliefs.

Shaneel Lal, alien rights advocate, said it was vital for the government to look at how the rainbow community is treated in all New Zealand state-integrated schools, stressing that anti-queer beliefs have an impact on mental health.

“The church and state were separated for a reason. “The church is infringing on children’s right to safe education,” they said.