Catholic school bans same-sex couples from formal dance

A Catholic all-girls school in Sydney, Australia, has banned students from bringing same-sex dates to its annual formal dance. Students are fighting to reverse the ban, and they have the support of New South Wales Premier Chris Minns.

According to Sydney radio station 2GB host Chris O’Keefe, the year 12 coordinator at St. Ursula’s College recently called the parents of a handful of students to inform them that their daughters would not be allowed to bring same-sex dates to the year-end event. The students had reportedly already purchased non-refundable tickets to the dance and submitted forms indicating they would be bringing same-sex partners.

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One student’s mother told 2GB that she got the call from the school official while she was in the car with her daughter. “At first, I thought… maybe there wasn’t enough room at the venue, or it was all partners. I didn’t realize until they actually spelt it out: ‘Your daughter’s bringing another female student,’” the woman, whose name was withheld, said. “I said to them it’s just their friend. ‘It doesn’t matter’, they said, ‘the rules are the rules.’”

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The mother said she was told that St. Ursula’s principal Mary Leask had made the decision “in conjunction with Sydney Catholic Schools.” She also noted that the school chose to inform students of the ban during exams. Her daughter was “distraught,” she said. “They’ve hit the kids right at a time when they really should be focused. And it’s just taking them off the path.”

According to O’Keefe, Leask has refused to comment on the ban. “St. Ursula’s principal Mary Leask will not be available for comment. Her primary focus is on supporting her students through to the end of [exams] and 13 years of school with as little disruption as possible,” the school said in a statement.

Leask reportedly sent a letter to all St. Ursula parents saying that the school “has always had an open-door policy of listening to parents and students’ concerns. Please be assured we will meet with each family involved to resolve the issue.”

O’Keefe said that Sydney Catholic Schools executive director Tony Farley has also refused to comment. Instead, a spokesperson for the organization, which runs 147 schools, said that it “traditionally celebrates year 12 completion through events that either do not involve students bringing friends or partners, or they bring friends or partners of the opposite sex.”

“This long-standing approach continues. Our reason for not commenting on the specifics of any one of our schools at this time is to ensure that our students’ completion of their HSC exams should not be disrupted by a broader societal issue being debated in the media and elsewhere,” the spokesperson added.

The St. Ursula’s mother who spoke to 2GB said she rejected the school’s offer of a closed-door meeting with the school, advising her daughter instead that she needed “strength in numbers” and to “find out who this affects and make a stance.”

Earlier this week, Abbie Frankland, the girlfriend of a St. Ursula’s student, started a Change.org petition demanding the school reverse the ban.

“This policy not only discriminates against LGBTQ+ students but also puts us in a difficult financial situation as we are left with non-refundable tickets and clothes that were bought specifically for this occasion,” the petition states. Noting that 61.6% of Australians support marriage equality, according to the country’s Bureau of Statistics, the petition states that “it is time for St. Ursula’s to align itself with these values by allowing all students – regardless of their sexual orientation – to bring their chosen partner to the school formal.”

“They’re just ruling out one group, and we’re just trying to have fun,” Frankland told O’Keefe.

Frankland’s petition has since been closed, having received 4,903 signatures.

On Thursday, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns sided with students in the controversy. “I think in this day and age you should be able to take anyone you like to your Year 12 formal,” he said according to The Sydney Morning Herald. “We are after all talking about teenagers who are close to or over the age of 18.”

New South Wales Education Minister Prue Car agreed. “I think you should be able to take who you want to take in 2023,” she told O’Keefe.

Equality Australia CEO Anna Brow told The Sydney Morning Herald that exemptions in federal and New South Wales law allow religious schools to discriminate against students because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. “These discriminatory practices are not theoretical or academic, as this incident sadly demonstrates, and one in three students attend non-government schools, most of which are religiously affiliated,” she said. “These legal gaps could be addressed very simply and quickly. The law should reflect what the vast majority of Australians already believe, including many people of faith.”