In this week’s update: Good news and bad news for our kids when it comes to gender ideology, and an update on our campaign to defend religious freedom.
Please read on…
So-called “Safe Schools” to be scrapped in South Australia
Firstly, the good news: South Australia's new education minister, John Gardner MP, says the notorious “Safe Schools” program could be gone from schools by the end of this year!
The announcement follows a Liberal Party election promise to replace the controversial program with a more general anti-bullying program, which includes a focus on online bullying prevention, to be rolled out in both primary and secondary schools.
John Gardner, South Australian Education Minister
Mr Gardner said the program’s current facilitator, SHINE SA, would not be contracted to deliver the new program.
“The sad thing is there are people that are in the LGBTI community who are bullied, there are people that are bullied because of race, because of looks, because of health issues,” he said.
“All of these forms are completely unacceptable, [and] the fact is that all of our children deserve to go to school in a safe environment.”
Mr Gardner said the Government would look at anti-bullying models developed by other states to help it refine the new South Australian model.
We thank Mr Gardner, and the Marshall Government, for taking a stand to protect kids from harmful gender ideology in schools.
Queensland’s education minister defends radical gender ideology
“At the core of the ideology is the radical claim that feelings determine reality. From this idea come extreme demands for society to play along with subjective reality.”
This is the stern warning of US-based public policy expert, Dr Ryan T Anderson. However, it seems Queensland education minister Grace Grace didn’t get the memo.
Despite parental outrage in mid-April over the use of the radical “Genderbread Person” resource (see image and explanation below) in classrooms at Mitchelton State High School, Ms Grace has refused to intervene.
The Genderbread Person is a so-called child-friendly “resource” produced by transgender activists in the United States. While it’s designed to appeal to children, it actually teaches them the dangerous idea that when it comes to gender and sexuality, people have five characteristics – gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, sexually attracted to and romantically attracted to. According to the included graphic, all five of these characteristics exist on a spectrum and are completely independent of each other.
Instead, Ms Grace declared in an interview on Channel Nine: “No its not political correctness gone mad. This is reality. We have just had the biggest debate about marriage equality.”
In other words, gender fluidity classes are an inevitable consequence of same-sex “marriage”; the new “reality”, according to Grace.
As columnist Miranda Devine wrote in the Daily Telegraph, this is exactly what “No” campaigners warned about during the marriage debate and for which they were howled down as “homophobes”.
Religious freedom update
We are very pleased to tell you that over 9000 people have now signed the Declaration for Religious Freedom – and we hope to reach the 10k target next week.
If you haven’t yet signed, please do so by clicking here. And if you already have, please share the link with your like-minded friends!
Despite this good news, we know that we can’t relax while our freedoms are under such strong threat.
Just take the Folau saga as an example. Not satisfied with the release of his brilliantly humble and comprehensive statement I’m a Sinner Too to explain his thoughts and actions, many in the corporate and sporting worlds continue to condemn Folau for his willingness to discuss his Christian faith publicly.
Israel Folau
Indeed, the male and female Kiwi rugby teams have combined to make a video entitled Diversity is Strength, which doubles as an ad for key sponsor AIG. In the video, they unite against the enemy they call “discrimination”.
To be honest, one could be forgiven for mistaking their work, complete with strategically-placed rainbow flags, as a modern communist propaganda video.
Regardless, the message from the corporates and the mainstream media is clear. It is no longer acceptable for those in public life to adhere to Christian or conservative values, especially when it comes to matters of sexuality.
But if a man under the public and corporate spotlight can hold fast to his beliefs – like Israel Folau – then we should all be encouraged.
We appreciate your continued support.
Kind regards,
The Australian Family Coalition
P.S. As always, please invite your friends and family to register for our free weekly emails by sharing the following link with them:
http://www.austfamily.com.au/sign-up