I wrote an op-ed for Ten Daily about Scott Morrison’s comments on-air with Alan Jones and Neil Mitchell yesterday. These conservative men may think they are being subtle, but the homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and slut-shaming is evident in their words.
Jones took umbrage at one exercise in the curriculum in which students use character cards and role-play various scenarios related to sexual health, relationships, sexuality and gender. He referred to two of the characters that students have to role-play. The first is 17-year-old “Megan” who has had 15 sexual partners and describes herself as bisexual. The other character he referred to, “Kelly”, is 14 and thinks she might be a lesbian.
Clearly, Jones did not take similar offence at some of the other characters detailed in the curriculum, such as “Reece”, a 16-year-old boy who engages in consensual sex with girls, mostly within the context of relationships, or “Steven”, a committed Christian who believes sex should take place within the context of marriage.
Jones told Morrison that “all this is going on in the classroom” and asked him if it made his skin curl. Morrison replied, “It does, Alan.”
The takeaway? Some of these leaders should actually read the curriculum and learn a bit more about these programs and resources to find out what is taught in our classrooms, rather than always being reactive and hysterical.