Bialik against sexual discrimination

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Melbourne’s Bialik College has told the Senate and Constitution Affairs Committee that sexual preferences should not preclude students, teachers or staff being employed or taught in their institution.

Jeremy Stowe-Landner

In a letter sent to the committee the college’s principal Jeremy Stowe-Lindner wrote: “Whilst faith-based schools must be allowed to lawfully discriminate on the basis of faith membership for enrolment, since their raison d’être is to educate children of a particular faith, as Principal of Bialik College, a Jewish faith-based educational institution, I see no basis for any other discrimination.

I strongly oppose any exemptions that would allow faith-based educational institutions to discriminate against students, teachers and staff on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and other attributes covered by the Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

Sexual identity in particular, and rarely but importantly gender identity as well, is a personal decision and reality for individual citizens that should have no impact whatsoever on their education, or educational admission. We are all created equally and I strongly encourage the law to support this, and prevent discrimination.

The path that the alternative to this sets us on is a dark path. Future generations would look at us with the same incredulity that we hold when we consider those who opposed the emancipation of slaves, universal suffrage or civil rights.”