Joy Adalia
Brendan (family name withheld for security reasons) had just recently come out as gay, but continued to dress up and act like a straight guy. He has a daughter with his ex-wife. The family lives in Mandurah, Western Australia.
Brendan told the Mandurah Mail that he had enrolled his seven-year-old daughter at Foundation Christian College but weeks later, he was informed by Andrew Newhouse, the school principal, that they had to expel his daughter. The reason? She was openly telling her classmates about her gay father and his partner, a man.
When Brendan tried to protest the ruling, he was told by the principal that they wouldn’t have accepted his daughter if they had known he was gay.
“[My daughter] got talking about Tony Abbott and gay marriage and mentioned that her dad is with [my partner] and she was shut down by her teacher and then the teacher had to explain to the class what ‘gay’ is,” Brendan revealed.
He also said, “I was told that they don’t promote ‘gay’ at the school and [my daughter] was unable to talk about my life between [my partner] and me and general stuff about what a kid talks about with her parents. She could mention my name, but she couldn’t talk about us being gay or relating to us as a couple, so pretty much to a seven-year-old, we were forced to say to [my daughter] that she wasn’t allowed to talk about Daddy or [my partner] at all.”
Brendan, who shares joint custody of the child with his former wife, felt disappointed with the school’s attitude towards him and his daughter.
“I told them that I expected my daughter to be able to talk about home life like any other kid in the class,” he insisted. “I don’t want her to be told that I’d go to hell, not that they ever did, but it is their belief, and I didn’t want her to be told that love is only between a man and a woman.”
Thinking that his daughter would always face the fear of being expelled because of him being gay, Brendan decided to transfer her to a public primary school. The child was, however, devastated with the transfer as she had already made friends at the private Christian school.
“Why does my daughter have to go through this and lose her best friends due to the person I am? I carry a lot of guilt and I hate that my daughter has to deal with her dad not being accepted,” Brendan lamented.
Photo credit: SameSame
In a statement sent to Mandurah Mail, Principal Newhouse revealed, “When the father submitted his application for enrolment, he did so with his ex-wife as part of the process. Knowing that the college would not endorse an application from same-sex parents, I find there is not openness from the parent’s point of view. The parent signed the conditions of entry agreement with the college stating (amongst other items) ‘We support the principle of Christian education for our child.’ The [school] board are firm in their view that families have a mother and father who raise children jointly. The board also has a strong view that families with same-sex parents do not support a Christian world view.
“Some parents at this college are concerned to hear that a child in year one is talking about their experiences of living with two dads, in place of a mother and father. I mentioned to the parent that if his daughter was to continue this topic of discussion with her peers, then it would be in both his and his daughter’s interests to move to a school that would support his world view,” Newhouse added.
Source: Mandurah Mail, Gay Star News
