Alliance supports Wellington students

The Alliance backs the call from Not In Our Schools for the homophobic Destiny church and political party to be expelled from Wellington High School. More than half the students at Wellington High have signed a petition against Destiny's presence.

"It's not appropriate for an outside group preaching hatred and intolerance to make use of the school facilities," said Alliance Human Rights Spokesperson Kelly Buchanan. "Wellington High is well known as a diverse and tolerant school, yet the students are being forced to share space with a group that condemns many of them as abominations. These students have a right to be free from that sort of hostility."

A school - and Wellington High more than most - is a community, not just a collection of buildings for hire, according to Ms Buchanan. Limits to equal access principles are quite justified in such cases. "I'm sure Destiny would be less than thrilled if, say, a gay parents group tried to hire one of their churches for its meetings."

Some of the reluctance to evict Destiny on the part of the Wellington High administration can almost certainly be laid at the government's chronic underfunding of education. The school can't afford to turn away a paying customer, no matter how reprehensible. The Alliance is very concerned that schools are being forced to rely on outside sources of income to get by.

Alliance members will be joining the Not In Our Schools protest at 11:30pm this Sunday (Jan 23) on the Grassy Knoll outside Wellington High.

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