“We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including but not limited to adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, bisexual acts, bestiality, incest, pedophilia and pornography), is sinful and offensive to God and destructive to human relationships and society, ‘ is written in the school document.
The contract also said the college will only enroll a student “based on the gender that matches their biological sex.”
The college is one of Queensland’s largest independent schools, learning around 1,700 children from primary to secondary education, according to the website.
The petition accuses the school of openly discriminating against queer and trans students and demands that the school revoke the contract.
“Sign the petition to show Citipointe that we will not stand for such blatant transphobia and homophobia,” wrote Bethany Lau, the petition’s creator.
Pastor Brian Mulheran, the principal of the school, said in the statement: “We have always had these Christian beliefs and we have tried to be fair and transparent in our community by making them clear in the enrollment contract.
“We seek to preserve our Christian ethos and give parents and students the right to make an informed choice as to whether they can support and embrace our approach to Christian education.
“Citipointe does not judge students on their sexuality or gender identity and we would not make decisions about their enrollment at the College based on that alone.”
However, the new contract states that the school “has the right to exclude a student” who “no longer follows the College’s doctrinal regulations, including those related to biological sex,” according to 7 News.
DailyExpertNews has contacted Citipointe for further comment.
The Queensland Human Rights Commission said the state’s anti-discrimination law prevents schools from discriminating against students based on their sexuality or gender identity.
Schools in the state can operate as a single-sex or religious school, but the law “does not allow a school to refuse enrollment based on gender identity or sexuality,” the commission said in a statement.
“A school policy that requires a trans- or gender-diverse youth to be treated as the sex assigned to them at birth, or that requires a youth to hide or deny their sexuality, is likely to amount to unlawful discrimination,” it said.
“Schools cannot outsource their duties under discrimination laws by asking parents or students to agree to discriminatory terms.”
The federal government of Australia has proposed new legislation that would protect citizens from discrimination based on religious affiliation or activity, just as current laws prohibit discrimination based on race, gender, disability and age.
The Religious Discrimination Act is still pending in Parliament and thousands of interested parties have expressed their views.
Critics fear the bill will allow religious entities, including schools and charities, to discriminate if it is consistent with their core beliefs.
In its submission, the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties said the proposed bill “dangerously expands the over-privileged of religious rights in relation to other rights and weakens existing protections available under current state and federal anti-discrimination laws.”
Hilary Whiteman of DailyExpertNews contributed to this report.