A Brisbane religious school has withdrawn a controversial enrolment contract sent to parents last week, after a backlash from parents and the broader community.
The contract demanded families denounce homosexuality and that students identify by birth gender, or risk being excluded from the school.
Citipointe Christian College's contract describes homosexuality as a sin and compares it to bestiality and paedophilia.
Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace referred Citipointe to the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board on Tuesday over the contract.
This morning, Citipointe principal Brian Mulheran wrote to the school's parents acknowledging the contract had caused distress and confirming it had been withdrawn "at this time".
"The College has decided to withdraw the amended Enrolment Contract at this time, and will revert to the previous terms of enrolment," he said in the letter.
"Moving forward, the College will enter into a respectful dialogue with the College community regarding any further amendments to the enrolment contract pertaining to our Christian ethos.
"In this respect, the College will take appropriate steps to ensure that we remain compliant with our discrimination obligations.
"We deeply regret that some students may feel that they were, or would be, discriminated against because of their sexuality or gender identity."
Ms Grace on Thursday welcomed the school's move to withdraw the contract.
"Can I urge that, in the interests of the mental welfare of staff, parents and carers and in the public interest, that they abandon these contracts and that they never resurface again," she said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison also confirmed this morning, before the contract was withdrawn, that the Coalition's controversial Religious Discrimination Bill would be amended to ensure students could not be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
"The bill that we're going to be taking to Parliament – we'll be having an amendment which will deal with that to ensure that the kids cannot be discriminated against on that basis," he told Brisbane radio station B105.
"I think school should be, you send your kids to a Christian school or a Muslim school or Jewish school or whatever it is, that should be able to teach in that way."
'It was pretty heartbreaking'
Gay former Citipointe student Jared Mifsud this morning told ABC News Breakfast the contract had left him "speechless".
Later, when told the contract had been withdrawn, he said he welcomed the move "but I am still very concerned".
"There is this underlying sense of discrimination against LGBTQI+ students in the school and this is only happening because of how much the overwhelming response to this has been," he said.
"I don't feel like the language they've used is sincere. If you truly felt that you had an open-door policy for anyone, that language should never have existed in the first place."
Mr Mifsud attended the Carindale college from year 1 to 12. He told ABC News Breakfast "it was pretty heartbreaking" to see the the language used in the contract.
"It just completely blows my mind that they can even use language like that. When I first saw that they had lumped it in with bestiality and paedophilia, I was honestly speechless.
"You're already ostracised when it comes to being gay in this school, and I feel like now the kind of language that they've used is just instantly singling out these students."
Mr Mifsud said while he had a group of friends and teachers who were supportive of him during his time at Citipointe, the anti-gay narrative at the school had a lasting impact.
"The undercurrent of language that is used is so detrimental to the upbringing of any teenager," he said.
"You are consistently told that being a homosexual is a sin and you will burn in hell for the rest of your life.
"The kind of fear that that instils in a 15-year-old, 16-year-old, there aren't even words to describe that, truly."
Parents at Citipointe had taken their complaints to the Queensland Human Rights Commission, and both Ms Grace and Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman were criticical of the contract.
In a statement sent to the media on Sunday, Mr Mulheran said the college "does not judge students on their sexuality or gender identity and we would not make a decision about their enrolment in the college simply on that basis".
He said the college wanted to give parents and students the right to make an "informed choice" about supporting the school's approach to Christian education.
Change of heart 'doesn't come from a genuine place'
Former student Felicity Myers said she never expected the reaction on social media when she first shared the contract on her social media on Friday night.
Ms Myers, whose siblings still attend the school, said she felt compelled to speak out after the contract brought up "a lot of emotions and trauma".
She did not expect the contract to be withdrawn and described it as a small victory.
"I do believe the culture that has been created ... will still be evident within the school and church despite this contract being withdrawn."
Ms Myers father, Ben Myers,said the contract had caused "ripples of hurt and confusion among parents and families and students."
While Mr Myers was mystified by the original contract, he said the school community was relieved that it had been withdrawn.
"I think it's going to take some serious thinking and some serious time to figure out, 'How do we engage in some healing? How do we rebuild trust with families?'"
