Schools will no longer be able to discriminate again gay teachers

krudler

So there's legislation change coming that will make it illegal for schools to discriminate against teachers because of their sexual preferences, which they currently (crazily) are legally allowed to do.

http://www.thejournal.ie/laws-discrimination-changed-1662535-Sep2014/

A change in legislation will ensure that public service workers cannot be discriminated against for their sexual orientation, marital status or gender identity.
That’s according to Minister of State at the Department of Justice & Equality, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who plans to advance legislation to amend Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act.
The Teachers Union of Ireland says it welcomes Ó Ríordáin’s commitment to end the current discrimination which exists for many teachers in schools.

Good change imo, the less that religious beliefs can dictate civil and worker rights in Ireland the better.

dr.bollocko

Finally ireland arrives into the middle nineteen sixties.

Gatling

What's the bet at the last minute they will allow certain exclusions to the legislation

Hammar

Jaysus,its pretty unbelieveable that they were able to do so up to now...

AnonoBoy

"But.... but..... but we were only having the craic? No, eh.... undermining the fabric of society? No? eh......... perverting our children? No? Seriously? Eh...... honestly held beliefs or something? Jeez, who thought this bigoted discrimination would be so hard to rationalise."

El Weirdo

*awaits Iona shills*

krudler

Hammar wrote: »

Jaysus,its pretty unbelieveable that they were able to do so up to now...

Isn't it, just another reason why religion needs to be taken out of the school system, or diminished massively in scale. I'd genuinely love to hear from someone who thinks it's ok to discriminate against people because they happen to like people of the same sex.

Kiwi in IE

Wow! How progressive!

Don't misinterpret my sarcasm, this is fantastic news, but WTF is with the fact it has been legal up to now?

Links234

Wonderful!

Kiwi in IE

dr.bollocko wrote: »

Finally ireland arrives into the middle nineteen sixties.

Not quite. Abortion is still illegal unless the pregnancy is going to result in certain death.

eviltwin

About bloody time

dxhound2005

hognef wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance, but in what ways are they currently allowed to discriminate?

This:

37.—(1) A religious, educational or medical institution which is under the direction or control of a body established for religious purposes or whose objectives include the provision of services in an environment which promotes certain religious values shall not be taken to discriminate against a person for the purposes of this Part or Part II if—

(a) it gives more favourable treatment, on the religion ground, to an employee or a prospective employee over that person where it is reasonable to do so in order to maintain the religious ethos of the institution, or

(b) it takes action which is reasonably necessary to prevent an employee or a prospective employee from undermining the religious ethos of the institution.

whupdedo

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

Wow! How progressive!

Don't misinterpret my sarcasm, this is fantastic news, but WTF is with the fact it has been legal up to now?

Probably just getting around to it now, theirs probably plenty stupid laws that exist that need to be changed but aren't because they don't interfere with day to day life, I had an openly gay teacher in school about 15 years ago and I never saw him discriminated against, just because it's law in some outdated piece of legislation ,doesn't mean that it's to be taken as gospel in daily life

krudler

hognef wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance, but in what ways are they currently allowed to discriminate?

If you're a teacher and gay you can be sacked if you're working in a Catholic ethos school, which is something like 85% of schools in Ireland. It also covers marriage status, so divorced or remarried teachers can also be sacked, as can transgender teachers (I don't even know if there are many, if any at all in Ireland? be curious to know though)

Karl Stein

That's fabulous.

No seriously.

krudler

whupdedo wrote: »

Probably just getting around to it now, theirs probably plenty stupid laws that exist that need to be changed but aren't because they don't interfere with day to day life, I had an openly gay teacher in school about 15 years ago and I never saw him discriminated against, just because it's law in some outdated piece of legislation ,doesn't mean that it's to be taken as gospel in daily life

Still good that it's being changed though regardless of whether schools are less likely to actually discriminate against gay teachers, even if cases of it actually happening are rare now they legally can't at all.

dr.bollocko

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

Not quite. Abortion is still illegal unless the pregnancy is going to result in certain death.

It's another small step on a long road toward Ireland being where it should be. And at least this time it's a step forward. There have been so many backwards steps in the abortion debate that it just gets you down.

P_1

About bloody time!

What somebody does in their private life should have no bearing on their professional one.

Tar.Aldarion

dr.bollocko wrote: »

Finally ireland arrives into the middle nineteen sixties.

Yay we get to give the free love movement a go. And wait til we hear about the Beatles.

dxhound2005

whupdedo wrote: »

Probably just getting around to it now, theirs probably plenty stupid laws that exist that need to be changed but aren't because they don't interfere with day to day life, I had an openly gay teacher in school about 15 years ago and I never saw him discriminated against, just because it's law in some outdated piece of legislation ,doesn't mean that it's to be taken as gospel in daily life

It was enacted in 1998.

Kiwi in IE

whupdedo wrote: »

Probably just getting around to it now, theirs probably plenty stupid laws that exist that need to be changed but aren't because they don't interfere with day to day life, I had an openly gay teacher in school about 15 years ago and I never saw him discriminated against, just because it's law in some outdated piece of legislation ,doesn't mean that it's to be taken as gospel in daily life

Far from being merely a stupid, archaic law, it is a human rights infringement that Irish law allows.

krudler

They were talking about it on the radio earlier and the usual "won't someone think of the children" brigade were out, banging on about kids innocence and the like. I'm pretty sure your average kid wont give a fiddler's to find out that their female teacher likes women or male teacher likes men. Kids usually take to different ideas much better than adults do.

Shakespeare's Sister

Haven't heard of such a case in recent years (not that I'm saying that means it hasn't happened).
The closest I can think of in recent years was when that teenage girl was refused admission to a school because of being pregnant. Holy **** that was ugly. The amount of support for the school's decision - and from young people, not just auld ones/fellas - was depressing in the extreme.

Shakespeare's Sister

krudler wrote: »

They were talking about it on the radio earlier and the usual "won't someone think of the children" brigade were out, banging on about kids innocence and the like.

Seriously? Oh ffs. Not that there will be many cases anyway of people knowing who their teacher is in a relationship with. We certainly weren't privy to that information with regards most of our teachers. Why would we be?

catallus

I had a dance instructor in school and he was clearly gay. A very patient man.

krudler

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

Haven't heard of such a case in recent years (not that I'm saying that means it hasn't happened).
The closest I can think of in recent years was when that teenage girl was refused admission to a school because of being pregnant. Holy **** that was ugly. The amount of support for the school's decision - and from young people, not just auld ones/fellas - was depressing in the extreme.

Jaysus, was she shipped off to the laundry for bringing shame on her family?

thelad95

I remember seeing a documentary a couple of years ago about a soccer team in Dublin made up of gay people. Some of the team were also teachers and refused to be shown on camera. I was shocked when they stated the reason was because they would probably be sacked if their school found out. I thought it was some ass-hole board of management head but when I looked it up and saw this was all above board I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.

It's great to see this archaic sh*te being removed.

Guy:Incognito

P_1 wrote: »

About bloody time!

What somebody does in their private life should have no bearing on their professional one.

I think you need to stick legally in to that sentence somewhere. There's plenty of stuff that can and should get you in trouble in your professional life.

whupdedo

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

Far from being merely a stupid, archaic law, it is a human rights infringement that Irish law allows.

Which they are changing and about time

Kiwi in IE

krudler wrote: »

They were talking about it on the radio earlier and the usual "won't someone think of the children" brigade were out, banging on about kids innocence and the like. I'm pretty sure your average kid wont give a fiddler's to find out that their female teacher likes women or male teacher likes men. Kids usually take to different ideas much better than adults do.

The fact that schools indoctrinate with religion and there is a risk of children being exposed to Iona like attitudes outside the home, makes it important to discuss these things with children at an earlier age than would probably be necessary if this bulk**** didn't exist. I have made a point of ensuring my six year old knows that marriage/relationships are not gender specific and that some children have two mummies or two daddies instead of one of each, so that he is aware of reality in the face of bigoted bollocks.

whupdedo

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It was enacted in 1998.

Which shows how far we've come in 16 years

dxhound2005

Gatling wrote: »

What's the bet at the last minute they will allow certain exclusions to the legislation

Times change. When it was enacted in 1998 there wasn't a significant number of non nationals, specifically Muslims here. If there are Muslim schools which I think there are they may get to specify that their teachers have to be Muslim.

byhookorbycrook

I know plenty of LGBT teachers and there are no issues.

krudler

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

I know plenty of LGBT teachers and there are no issues.

Good, but at least now they're legally protected against a school or parents taking issue with their sexuality.

GLaDOS

A small step for progress

Annasopra

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

I know plenty of LGBT teachers and there are no issues.

Indeed. I know a good few lgbt teachers who are terrified because of this law.

krudler

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Indeed. I know a good few lgbt teachers who are terrified because of this law.

Really, must be crappy to have that hanging over you, all it takes is one parent or school official or student to see you out with your partner and you could lose your job, that's nuts. Even if realistically the chances of it happening are slim, there should be no chance of it.

dxhound2005

The Catholic Church are a spent force and there will be no resistance from that quarter. It is probably just recognising the de facto postion. I do not envisage it going well though in Muslim schools.

Annasopra

dxhound2005 wrote: »

The Catholic Church are a spent force and there will be no resistance from that quarter. It is probably just recognising the de facto postion. I do not envisage it going well though in Muslim schools.

It was the Church of Ireland that looked for this exemption in the first place not the catholic church.

El Weirdo

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

It was the Church of Ireland that looked for this exemption in the first place not the catholic church.

dxhound2005

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

It was the Church of Ireland that looked for this exemption in the first place not the catholic church.

I didn't know that. It will probably surprise a few people around here.

shruikan2553

Next up not discriminating on enrollment.

krudler

shruikan2553 wrote: »

Next up not discriminating on enrollment.

Indeed, there should be far more secular schools in Ireland too

Sheldons Brain

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

The fact that schools indoctrinate with religion and there is a risk of children being exposed to Iona like attitudes outside the home, makes it important to discuss these things with children at an earlier age than would probably be necessary if this bulk**** didn't exist. I have made a point of ensuring my six year old knows that marriage/relationships are not gender specific and that some children have two mummies or two daddies instead of one of each, so that he is aware of reality in the face of bigoted bollocks.

Children have one father and one mother. Teaching your children anything else is on a par with Intelligent Design and other bollix. Of course many people put their sexual gratification before their children and do not live with the parents of their children.

Kiwi in IE

Sheldons Brain wrote: »

Children have one father and one mother. Teaching your children anything else is on a par with Intelligent Design and other bollix. Of course many people put their sexual gratification before their children and do not live with the parents of their children.

I am talking about actual parents, the ones who care for and nurture them, not where the egg and sperm came from. Many children don't live with their biological parents. I havn't gone into how babies are made with him yet. It is important to me that my child is aware that diversity in families is entirely normal so he is well prepared to deal with the Catholic la la land version that he may encounter in school.