(Australian) Australia’s grand mufti has signalled open hostility to gay teachers in Islamic schools in defiance of Bill Shorten’s proposed changes to discrimination laws, saying they engage in “abnormal practices that contradict nature” and suffer from “mental illness.”
The intervention from Sheik Taj El-Din Hilaly, whose standing as grand mufti is disputed by the Australian National Imams Council, comes amid splits in the Coalition over how religious freedom protections should apply to teachers.
In the wake of the leaking of the Ruddock review into religious freedoms last week, the opposition leader has demanded the removal of legal exemptions allowing faith-based schools to discriminate against teachers on the basis of sexual orientation.
