Students, Alumni Speak Out Against LGBTQ+ Discrimination in Tasmania’s Catholic Schools

Current and former LGBTQ+ students and staff of Catholic schools inTasmania, Australia, are pushing for greater accountability and inclusion by testifying before a state parliamentary inquiry into discrimination and bullying in schools.

Several students bravely shared their stories of facing discrimination and bullying in Catholic schools due to their sexual orientation or gender expression, noting not only the bullying comments and behaviors, but also the policies and systems that allowed the bullying to continue un-addressed.

Rodney Croome of Equality Tasmania, Amilie Courtney, Leon Peci, outside the hearing room.

QNews reported on some of the testimony. Leon Pecl, a queer trans man who attended a Catholic school in Hobart stated:

“Even though my school had policies against homophobia and transphobia, they weren’t enforced. And bullying and ostracism against queer people went unchallenged and unchecked.”

Amilie Courtney, a young trans woman, spoke of the mistreatment she faced in school:

“I have experienced isolation, exclusion, bullying and abuse all because I am trans.No child should have to trade their dignity for an education. No child should be isolated to make adults more comfortable. And no child should grow up learning that who they are is a problem.”

Courtney shared that her motivation for testifying was not simply to tell her story– she also hopes that doing so will lead to concrete change in how LGBTQ+ individuals are treated at Catholic schools. She explained: 

“It was imperative for me to share my story to make sure no one else has to go through what I did. The discrimination is systemic, but it can be turned around. I hope the committee can make some real change.”

Rodney Croome, spokesperson for LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Tasmania, was also present at the inquiry to push for change, saying:

“It was a privilege to stand alongside students and teachers who have shown such bravery and commitment in telling their stories about discrimination in schools. Equality Tasmania has made a series of recommendations to the inquiry…including that Catholic Education Tasmania abide by the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act, which has no exemptions for faith-based schools.”

Despite the fact that the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act is clear that faith-based schools cannot discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, Catholic Education Tasmania,the organization that oversees 38 schools in Tasmania, claims that the federal Sex Discrimination Act  overrides state law, thus granting the schools an exemption to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender. 

In February 2025,  Archbishop Julian Porteous, the former head of the Hobart Archdiocese admitted to the parliamentary inquiry that the church denied leadership positions to staff who are gay or who are not in “regular” relationships. Additionally, Catholic Education Tasmania CEO, Dr. Gerard Gaskin, has said that they refuse to recognize transgender studies. 

It is within the context of this admitted and ongoing discrimination that students and staff shared their personal experiences with bullying and discrimination before the parliamentary inquiry. 

The stories of students and alumni are a sobering reminder that while Catholic leaders are lobbying for their right to discriminate, young queer people are suffering the consequences of violence, isolation, and ridicule. Even so, the Holy Spirit is at work: not fueling campaigns of exclusion, but rather gently nudging young people to tell their stories, to be courageous in who they are, and to speak up for the sake of all who will follow in their footsteps. 

–Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, February 6, 2026