Australia seeks to ban schools from expelling gay students

MELBOURNE - Australia aims to ban private or religious schools from expelling students on the basis of their sexuality, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday.

Debate over personal rights is growing ahead of a crucial by-election for Morrison's ruling Liberal-National coalition in the blue-ribbon Sydney seat of Wentworth on October 20.

"I will be taking action to ensure amendments are introduced as soon as practicable to make it clear that no student of a non-state school should be expelled on the basis of their sexuality," Morrison said in a statement.

The statement, which urged parliament to tackle the issue over the next two weeks, follows an offer of support by the largest opposition party, Labour, to repeal legal exemptions that allow religious schools to discriminate.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, called this week for equality in school employment and enrollment.

"Once employed or enrolled, people within a Catholic school community are expected to adhere to the school's mission and values," the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper quoted him as saying.

Australia's parliament voted to legalize same-sex marriage in December after a nationwide postal survey returned an overwhelming majority in favor of the unions.

Morrison said the government was working through its responses to the recommendations of a review panel to examine if the change to the law had restricted religious freedom. The recommendations have not been publicly disclosed.

"Our government does not support expulsion of students from religious non-state schools on the basis of their sexuality," he added.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Candle-lit vigil for gay rights after Italy youth suicide

ROME - Hundreds of gay rights activists held a candle-lit vigil at Rome's Colosseum Wednesday to call for a law against homophobia after a youth threw himself off the 11th story of a building in the Italian capital.

Some 500 activists and protesters holding candles, flowers and placards reading "I am gay" and "No Homophobia" demanded action after the latest in a series of suicide acts by gay students which have shocked the nation.

"This is a moment of pain for the homosexual community. These suicides are too much, they reveal a world of solitude and gay suffering," said LGBT activist Vanni Piccolo.

"We are calling for a real commitment from the institutions and not just words," he said.

The death this week of the 21-year-old known publicly as Simone D. followed two other youth gay suicides this year in Rome.

"We are here to launch a message against loneliness, we have to look after our young, gay or otherwise in this city and country," said Aurelio Mancuso, head of the Equality Italy association.

"We need a national plan to combat youth marginalisation," he said.

In his suicide note, Simone reportedly wrote that "Italy is a free country, but there are homophobes and those like that must search their consciences."

"Simone's tragic gesture, and leaving a note which was also a condemnation, reminds us of the country's inability to give people of diverse sexual orientations equal dignity," said Senate vice-president Valeria Fedeli, who attended the vigil.

Parliament must "approve a law against homophobia ... as quickly as possible, to restore equality, freedom and respect to Italy," she said.

In September, Amnesty International slammed Italy's lack of legislation against crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity as "unacceptable", saying it fell foul of international human rights laws.

Italy's lower house began in July to debate a bill which would outlaw homophobic hate crimes but it met opposition from Catholic figures within the centre-right who complained such a law risked curtailing freedom of speech.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com