The principal of Australia's only mainstream Catholic school signed up to the Safe Schools Coalition says he is under "considerable pressure" to withdraw from the anti-bullying program.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
St Joseph's College principal Paul Tobias said he had received emails from conservative Catholics – who are not part of the school community – who claimed it was wrong for a Catholic entity to be involved in the program.
"This debate has put people like me in a particularly difficult position," he said.
"But I don't believe there is anything in the Catholic faith that should stop us from promoting inclusiveness, diversity, and tolerance."
The program, which promotes acceptance of LGBTI people, has recently been attacked by conservative MPs including Cory Bernardi and is now being reviewed by the Turnbull government.
Mr Tobias said he supported the review, and hoped its findings were positive and encouraged more non-government schools to sign up.
"I don't think the debate has been respectful. I think there are people with vested interests politically who are trying to make mileage from this."
He said some of this commentary wrongly assumed that young people who were exposed to LGBTI issues would change their sexuality.
"Kids don't wake up and decide they are gay," he said. "Every student who attends this school, irrespective of their sexuality, is entitled to be part of a safe environment. We need to accept that there are some kids who are heterosexual and there are some that are LGBTI."
Mr Tobias has written to Education Minister James Merlino and suggested that the program have a greater focus on respecting diversity and less on detailed specifics of LGBTI people.
The Christian Brothers secondary school in Geelong has worked hard to turn around its previously homophobic culture, which was stifling student's academic and emotional development.
In 1997, Mr Tobias set up a homophobia taskforce after the school received a letter from a former student who spoke about how he was bullied for being gay.
Only two Catholic schools in Australia have signed up the Safe Schools Coalition – St Joseph's College in Geelong and St Joseph's Flexible Learning Centre North Melbourne, which is an alternative school for early school leavers and disengaged youth.
Mr Merlino said he did not understand why a review was necessary, considering the program had enjoyed bipartisan support for several years.
"We know that LGBTI students are six times more likely to commit suicide and these resources make a real difference to young people who are extremely vulnerable," he said.
"The Liberal Party is using this issue to fight its own internal wars, with absolutely no consideration given to the pain and suffering they are causing LGBTI students and their families."
The state government is still committed to rolling out the program to every Victorian public school.
Mr Bernardi told a meeting of federal government MPs last week that children were being "prematurely sexualised" by the program,
