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GAY STUDENT PARTNERS BANNED FROM DANCE (12/04/2008)
One of Brisbane's most prestigious all-boy schools says it's willing to debate a ban on gay students taking same-sex partners instead of girls to the senior formal.
The Anglican Church Grammar School, or Churchie, was in defence mode after it emerged several Year 12 students wanted to take their gay partners to the college's end-of year dance on June 19.
Under current policy, the young men may only attend the ball with a female partner.
Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) national spokeswoman Shelley Argent said the policy was "unfortunate" and it was about time schools moved into the modern era.
"Schools need to put an end to this discrimination," Ms Argent told AAP.
"They need to wake up and understand that homosexuality is not going away. I think that schools and society in general need to get in step."
Ms Argent, who founded the Brisbane arm of PFLAG in support of her son, said gay people were coming out earlier than in the past.
"People are coming out younger and younger," she said.
"That is because of education .... and understanding there is nothing wrong with them. Homosexuality is a natural sexual orientation; it is not an illness, they have done nothing wrong, it is just that they are in a minority group."
Churchie headmaster Jonathan Hensman said the policy had never been challenged before - it had always been the tradition that boys took girls to their matriculation dance.
"The school formal has been around for many, many years. It has been a wonderful occasion for the boys and the tradition with that has been for the boys to take a girl," Mr Hensman told AAP.
"It's important that they know how to carry themselves in that environment, to know how to behave, their demeanour is very much part of their education."
However, Mr Henman said, he was open to discussing the matter with students and encouraged those concerned to raise the issue in writing so he could refer it to the school council for debate.
"As society changes, these sorts of social issues become critical for schools," he said.
"We have to front them and we have to debate the issues and we are willing to do so.
"My attitude is these are minors, this is a very sensitive issue, therefore we have to take the interests of not only the individual to heart, but also what is in the wider interests of the school community."
A spokesman for Queensland's Catholic Education Commission confirmed it also would not allow gay couples to attend their school formals.
Source: from Nine MSN website
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TOWARDS A CHURCH APOLOGY (03/03/2008)
An excellent article by Donal Godfrey regarding the church's unwelcoming and unloving attitude towards gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. See the READINGS section on our website to download a PDF copy of the article.
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MARDI GRAS 08 PHOTOS AND VIDEO (02/03/2008)
We've got a great gallery of photos from Mardi Gras 08. Check our PHOTOS page. We will also shortly have our video up - check our Multimedia page!
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PHOTOS FROM FAIR DAY 2008 (20/02/2008)
Photos are now available from Fair Day 2008! Check out our photos page.
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