Teacher resigns rather than sign contract calling gay people pedophiles
Helen Clapham Burns refused to Citipointe Christian College's updated anti-LGBTQ contract
A teacher at an Australian K-12 Christian school has resigned rather than sign an updated contract comparing gay people to pedophiles.
Helen Clapham Burns, an English teacher at Citipointe Christian College in Queensland told news-current affairs show The Project that she couldn’t support the administration’s anti-LGBTQ views.
“The realization hit me that not only could I not sign [the contract] as a parent, I couldn’t agree to be a teacher in a school that had that vocabulary and language around some of the most vulnerable kids that we interact with,” she said.
Burns had also withdrawn her son from Citipointe and moved him to another school.
“I am having to blow my son’s world apart because he’s not going to get to do Year 11 and 12 with his mates,” Burns said. “I have to find him a new school and that’s what I was doing this morning.”
Citipointe’s updated enrolment contract, which has sparked widespread outcry, was sent out last month and requires parents to approve new anti-LGBTQ rules at the Christian school.
Under the new contract, a child’s enrolment can be terminated if they come out as transgender, with Citipointe arguing that the Bible ties gender identity to biological sex, News.com.au reports.
The contract requires parents to agree that “where distinctions are made between male and female…such distinctions will be applied on the basis of the individual’s biological sex.”
The contract also rejects same-sex marriage and compares homosexuality to pedophilia, calling it “sinful” and “destructive.”
“We believe that any form of sexual immortality (including but not limited to; adultery, fornication, homosexual acts, bisexual act, incest, pedophilia and pornography) is sinful and offensive to God and is destructive to human relationships and society,” the contract states.
The contract sparked outrage, with more than 130,000 people signing a petition demanding that Citipointe recall the amended contract.
“Citipointe is using their religious beliefs to openly discriminate against queer and trans students, as well as threatening to take away their education,” the petition states. “Sign the petition to show Citipointe that we will not stand for such blatant transphobia and homophobia.”
Clapham Burns, former English teacher at Citipointe, told The Project that her priority as an educator is “to make sure that each child that I interact with feels safe.”
“But when a child tells us, with tears in their eyes, that they don’t feel safe, what are we doing?” she continued. “In that documentation it says that both at the beginning of enrolment and during enrolment, if they don’t adhere to this we terminate the enrolment. I can’t work for an organization that does that to kids.”
Clapham Burns pointed to the hostility LGBTQ youth already experience growing up in Christian communities, noting, “It’s tough enough being a teenager as it is, without thinking you are going to hell.”
“The extra element of being a queer kid in a Christian environment is you think you‘re going to hell for eternity,” she continued. “I don’t even know how you walk through the day with that.”
Clapham Burns said that she was “heartbroken” to leave her job and her students.
“I feel like I’ve let them down,” she continued. “But I have to let those queer kids know that there are Christians out there that love them and aren’t hiding behind Bible verses and are letting them know that they are safe with me.”
Helen Clapham Burns is a teacher at Citipointe Christian College, where one of her children attends. The school has not backed down on its policy against LGBTQI+ students. Today, Helen handed in her resignation. She joins us to tell us all about why she has made the decision. pic.twitter.com/JJqd4rc7sn
— The Project (@theprojecttv) January 31, 2022
After outcry over the contract, Citipointe’s principal, Pastor Brian Mulheran, released a statement claiming that the school was trying to be “fair and transparent to everyone in our community” by making the school’s beliefs known.
“We are seeking to maintain our Christian ethos and to give parents and students the right to make an informed choice about whether they can support and embrace our approach to Christian education,” he said.
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