Total Homosexual intolerance towards religious freedom
A Melbourne IT specialist engaged to work on the Safe Schools program was sacked after privately expressing concerns about the contentious initiative during a staff meeting, with his employer later accusing him of “creating an unsafe work environment”.
Lee Jones, a Christian who was general manager of a business at the time, had told his boss he would work on the project despite his views but was dismissed regardless, according to a submission to a federal inquiry into the status of religious freedom.
His predicament is just one of several cases of discrimination alleged by Christians or opponents of same-sex marriage that have come to light as part of the inquiry, which, in the wake of the Coopers Brewery fiasco, has heightened concerns about free speech and a growing intolerance towards traditional views.
Other cases include a Victoria-based commonwealth public servant who was given a warning for complaining about being pressured to take part in a gay pride march.
The man, who was also a Christian, later asked to be taken off the email list of the department’s LGBTI network as he found emails “offensive by reason of his religious background”.
According to the submission of the Wilberforce Foundation, which is a coalition of lawyers committed to common law values, rights and freedoms, the public servant was issued a notice to show cause why he should not be disciplined.
That was challenged and there was a finding that there had been no breach of the APS Code of Conduct.
The foundation also cites Alice Springs teacher Ian Shepherd, who was threatened with disciplinary action last year for expressing opposition to same-sex marriage on a Facebook forum.
Despite the comments being made outside school hours, he was issued a notice to show cause. The Northern Territory Education Department has since dropped the action.
Meanwhile, an Adelaide university student was suspended last year after offering to pray for a student who was stressed over her workload and later voicing his opinion about homosexuality.
The student had said that he would treat a gay person kindly “but (didn’t) agree with their choice”.
He was ordered to undergo “re-education” but sought legal advice and the university withdrew the allegations.
Human Rights Law Alliance managing director Martyn Iles, who was involved with some of the cases, said they were evidence of the “purging of certain ideas in public discourse”.
Mr Iles said people with traditional views on same-sex marriage and the Safe Schools program were not being permitted to express them publicly.
In Mr Jones’s case, he was in a staff meeting when asked his opinion about Safe Schools, which had been generating significant media due to its promotion of contested ideas around gender fluidity and sexuality.
His response was that he would not want his own children to be taught some of the more controversial elements of the program. No representatives from Safe Schools were at the meeting.
Mr Jones did not want to discuss details of his situation.
However, he said his sacking — “a brutal over-reaction” — had opened his eyes to attempts to censor those opposed to “rewriting the law and morality”.
