Concerned parents have organised a protest against their Adelaide school pushing far-left gender ideology on children, including those still in pre-school.
The demonstration was planned in response to a letter Reynella East College sent to parents informing them the school would “recognise and celebrate International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT)” on May 13.
The letter stated that the school was “proud of the rich diversity within our student body and the broader community” and invited students to wear rainbow accessories “as a symbol of support for our diverse community”.
But the letter sparked backlash from parents, and father-of-two Luke Poulton spoke out in a local community group on Facebook, calling it “woke madness” and writing: “This is where I draw the line. I’ve had enough of the Australian Labor Party trying to force their woke ideology onto children.
“Call me what you want. My kids won’t ever be participating in IDAHOBIT Day. I do not support this gender ideology push. Let kids decide who they want to be naturally.”
He then shared a poster for the protest, which he said was going to be peaceful, with “no derogatory remarks or swearing [as] we are at a school with children”, and “no abusive behaviour will be tolerated”.
Police have been notified and will be in attendance, and Mr Poulton said he had also invited local MPs.
“Peaceful protest to share our disapproval of the Education Department allowing children in kindy and primary school to partake in IDAHOBIT day which is a non-compulsory day REC is choosing to host on their own accord,” he wrote.
“Also the displaying of insignia relating to gender and toxic masculinity including reading material in preschool-12 settings, where children as young as three use the same library as older kids.”
The post and others about the planned protest generated hundreds of comments so far, with many promising to attend or saying they supported the group of parents.
Mr Poulton also shared photos sent in by other upset parents showing a homosexual and “transgender” flag flying from the school’s flagpole, posters bearing “trans rights” and anti-Australian slogans, “toxic masculinity” displays and children’s books in the library about homosexuality and “gender identity”.
“My problem is that kindy and junior primary kids are subject to stuff that, until a later age, you shouldn’t even be thinking about or shouldn’t even be on the minds of these tiny little kids,” Mr Poulton told The Advertiser.
“I know that in this world we live in people need to be accepting of this stuff, but I don’t think at that age it is appropriate at all to even be witnessing a single thing about it.”
Education Department chief executive Martin Westwell said there was no directive forcing schools to celebrate IDAHOBIT Day, but that “the Department encourages schools to recognise this day as an opportunity to promote safe and inclusive environments for all students”.
“Events such as these enable students to create a sense of community and connectedness especially with their peers who may be different to them in some way,” he said.
Header image: Left, the protest flyer. Right, LGBT books in the school library (supplied).
