Same-sex private schools across Sydney are assuring LGBTQIA+ students that they can bring a romantic date of any gender to their year 12 formal after St Ursula’s College, an all-girls Catholic school, banned same-sex partners from attending.
Waverley College, a Catholic all-boys school in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, has said students who want to bring a male partner to the formal are welcome to.
“Waverley College prides itself on its inclusivity and our Year 12 students are free to bring a young person of their choice to the formal,” said Gabrielle Smith, the school’s deputy principal, per Sydney Morning Herald.
FYI, this is the same school that announced it would charge students $20 if they rocked up to school sporting a mullet. And last year it had to expel six students over violent hazings.
The principal of fellow Catholic school Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview, Dr Paul Hine, also said students are more than welcome to bring whoever they want to the formal.
“The College warmly invites each graduating student, their family, and a guest of their choice to graduation evening proceedings,” he said.
Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill and Kambala in Rose Bay, both Anglican schools, also allow same-sex dates at their school formals, as does Wenona.
Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar School formal Jenny Allum said students can bring anyone to the formal, and noted that just because someone is bringing a date, doesn’t mean the relationship is romantic.
“Some bring a friend, some bring a partner and some choose not to bring anyone. The guest can be of any sex and there certainly isn’t an expectation that it is someone they are ‘romantically interested in’,” she said.
The statements come as controversy shrouds St Ursula’s College, after the school placed a ban on same-sex dates. Abbie Frankland, one of the students at St Ursula’s, launched a change.org petition to pressure the school to reverse its archaic ruling. It received 4,901 supporters before being closed last week.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and NSW Education Minister Prue Car have both spoken out against the ban, as has federal Education Minister Jason Clare.
“I think in this day and age you should be able to take anyone you like to your year 12 formal – we are after all talking about teenagers who are close to or over the age of 18,” Minns said.
Sydney Catholic Schools, which overseas 147 schools including St Ursula’s, backed its decision and said 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”, per SMH.
Yeah, bit strange to insist that girls can’t even bring *platonic* female friends to their formal, but that’s toxic heteronormativity for you.
Image: Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview/Facebook, Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
