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SMH今天报道，墨尔本一私立女校禁止本校一个Year 11学生邀请同性伴侣（Year 10）来参加学校的舞会。 而这位女生的父亲向Equal Opportunity Commission投诉学校因为他女儿的性取向的歧视行为。这位家长说，他们打算离开这所私校而转去对同性恋更宽容的公立学校。 而这位女生的同性伴侣也同时转到公立学校，她的家长同样也支持自己的女儿。 墨尔本这这所女子私校的校长则回应说： “学校组织的活动（舞会）不是要歧视同性伴侣，而是因为舞会就是为了让女校的女学生们有男孩子们参与的体验。” “如果我们开放让允许女生们带自己的同性朋友来参加，那么可能大家都会带女生朋友来了。这和我们要让男孩们来参与这个活动的初衷相悖。” “我们是一个单一性别的女子学校，我们邀请的是客人，而不是同性伴侣。” “而且年龄也是个问题，Year 11的女生邀请的是一个Year 10的同性学生。” Girls interrupted: same-sex couple banned from ball Henrietta Cook November 10, 2010 - 8:55AM ‘‘It made me so upset’’ ... Hannah Williams, left, and her girlfriend, Savannah Supski, are changing schools so they can be together. Photo: Angela Wylie On the night of her school formal, Hannah Williams found herself all dressed up with nowhere to go. After inviting friends to her home for ''pre-drinks'', the 16-year-old stood on her doorstep and watched her classmates file into the darkness to attend one of the highlights of the school year. Instead of joining them, Hannah took off her heels and black dress and went to bed. A few weeks earlier a teacher had told the year 11 student she couldn't attend the dance with her 15-year-old girlfriend, Savannah Supski. She was asked to bring a male instead. ''It made me very upset. I thought it was unfair so I didn't go,'' she said. ''I put a lot of effort into trying to fix things. I had meetings with principals; looked through the Equal Opportunity Act; all my friends put posters up around the school and the teachers ripped them down. There was an easy solution; they just needed to let me go with my girlfriend.'' Hannah's father, Peter Williams, lodged a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission, alleging the school - Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar in Melbourne - had discriminated against his daughter because of her sexual orientation. ''The school kept saying because it is an all-girls school we want to make an event where they can meet boys in a social scenario,'' he said. ''That process is anachronistic and creates feelings of discrimination among girls who are same-sex-attracted.'' After lodging the complaint in September, Mr Williams had a mediation session with the school but the two parties were unable to reach a conclusion. The Williams family did not take matters further because it was becoming too stressful for their daughter, who will complete her final exams next year. Mr Williams said the experience had forced his daughter to move to a ''more accepting'' government school. Savannah, now 16, is also changing schools to be with her girlfriend and was happy to hear that their new school allowed same-sex couples to attend the formal. ''It was a homophobic issue and I feel extremely discriminated against at the old school,'' she said. Sian Supski supports her daughter's decision to change schools. ''The idea that there had to be a gender balance at the dinner dance seemed to be discriminatory. It was a very difficult time for Savannah but she's an amazingly strong young person and we are very proud of her.'' The principal of Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar, Heather Schnagl, said the event did not discriminate against same-sex couples and was designed to promote a co-educational experience. ''I don't think it's appropriate they feel discriminated against, and I'm very upset they feel that,'' she said. ''If we opened it up and said girls could bring another female they would all bring females; the policy is trying to create an event where boys are invited. We are a school that has an all-girls environment, and they are meant to invite guests, not partners.'' She said age was also an issue. ''It's an event for year 11s and the student's guest was in year 10.'' Hannah said her friends took younger males and she was the only one asked to provide the age of her date. ''They kept on making up excuses, and said everything was a problem for me.'' The president of the NSW Secondary Principals' Council, Christine Cawsey, said it should be a matter for the student's family to decide. ''Our view is that if a student's family feels the partner is the best partner to bring then that's fine,'' she said. ''But I do understand that some schools can have different rules.'' The Equal Opportunity Commission said it could not comment. This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/girls-interrupted-samesex-couple-banned-from-ball-20101109-17m29.html [ 本帖最后由 patrickzhu 于 2010-11-10 12:21 编辑 ] |
