According to Out in Perth, the question of whether religious institutions should be allowed to discriminate against an individual’s gender identity or sexual orientation has been a prominent issue since marriage equality was passed in Australia in 2017.
Policymakers have not been able to agree on new legislation since that time.
Currently, Catholic institutions have the right to expel students and fire employees based an LGBTQ+ identity.
But Archbishop Anthony Fisher, OP, warned recently that if this status quo is overturned by new legislation, Catholic schools and hospitals will be forced to close down. He fears that church institutions will “not [be] allowed to take religion into account” while fostering educational and employment cultures.
While Fisher believes the country has not reached “the tipping point for closures,” he thinks they may reach that point if “the government puts forward religious discrimination protections that covered staff.”
Closing schools would impact the more than 800,000 students who are taught in Australian Catholic institutions, as well as the employees within these spaces.
Out in Perth explained that since marriage equality, successive governments have sought to clarify how non-discrimination protections and religious entities relate:
“Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised to fix the legislative loophole affecting students ‘in a fortnight’ back on October 2020, but rejected providing protections for teachers and other school staff. . .The Morrison government developed two different attempts at legislation, but then saw members of the Liberal party cross the floor to vote against it.
“Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also vowed to introduce legislation but says he will only put it forward if there is bipartisan support. Earlier this week Shadow Attorney General Michaelia Cash reportedly walked out of a meeting with Attorney General Mark Dreyfus after they clashed over the latest version of the legislation.”
Archbishop Fisher has long opposed LGBTQ+ rights in strident terms. After Australian legislators legalized marriage equality in 2017, Fisher called it a “horrible year.” He previously suggested in 2014 that marriage equality would lead to polygamy and incest. And it was reported that he threatened to stop archdiocesan business with companies which came out in support of marriage equality.
In 2022, he defended rugby players who refused to wear Pride jerseys, and in 2021 he opposed Sydney city officials holding a pro-queer concert in a municipal plaza adjoining the cathedral.
At a 2015 Mass, he said LGBTQ+ advocates sought to “silence any alternative to any politically correct position. . .to bully us all” who oppose equal rights.
Yet, at the 2018 Synod on Youth in which he participated, he mentioned young people who struggled with sexual identity as part of an apology for the ways the church fails people.
And LGBTQ+ participants at World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon said they had a largely positive conversation with Fisher.
It is entirely possible for Catholic spaces to flourish without discrimination, as seen in the numerous parishes and schools which have worked to accept and advocate for LGBTQ+ folks.
Instead of assuming that LGBTQ+ protections and Catholic institutions cannot coincide, Archbishop Fisher should learn from the ministry of other religious leaders and work with LGBTQ+ folks to create a Catholic space for all people, inclusive of every gender and sexual identity.