Church support for gay school formals BUT ...

THE head of the Anglican Church in Australia has backed gay and lesbian students taking same-sex partners to school formals.

Anglican Archbishop Phillip Aspinall yesterday said he had no "personal objection to a school deciding to allow boys to take friends who are boys, or girls to take friends who are girls to school formals".

His comments came after it was revealed that a prestigious Brisbane school had insisted students take a member of the opposite sex to their school formal.

Several students at Churchie - the Anglican Church Boys' Grammar School - had wanted to escort their same-sex partners to the event in June, and approached a senior member of staff to raise the issue.

Despite his apparent support for the gay students, Dr Aspinall, who is president of the school's council, said the school had a right to enforce a ban on same-sex partners if it felt the move was necessary.

"I understand that in this particular instance the school has decided that its approach is to emphasise the interaction of young men and young women and provide them with an opportunity to do that in this kind of formal setting and I have no objection to that either," he said.

"I think that's a reasonable and legitimate approach for a school to take." See Church support for gay school formals
NEWS.com.au, Australia