A pedestrian walks across a rainbow pedestrian crossing painted on Sydney's Oxford street, the city's main gay district April 4, 2013.
Australian MP Peter Abetz has called an anti-bullying program just a “little more than a gay, lesbian, transgender lifestyle promotion program. The Liberal backbencher believed that the Safe Schools Coalition Australia program, or SSCA, is not really an anti-bullying program, but a “militant gay lesbian lobby.” IN PHOTO: A pedestrian walks across a rainbow pedestrian crossing painted on Sydney's Oxford street, the city's main gay district April 4, 2013. Officials have ordered the removal of the rainbow pedestrian crossing painted on a street in Sydney's main gay district, setting off fierce debate in a city known for its annual Mardi Gras gay pride event, one of Australia's main tourist draws. Controversy over the crossing, painted in February to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the annual gay festival, is pitting those proud of Sydney's reputation for tolerance, such as gay former tennis star Martina Navratilova, against government officials who say it is a safety hazard. Picture taken April 4, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray

Australian MP Peter Abetz has called an anti-bullying program just a “little more than a gay, lesbian, transgender lifestyle promotion program. The Liberal backbencher believed that the Safe Schools Coalition Australia program, or SSCA, is not really an anti-bullying program, but a “militant gay lesbian lobby.”

Abetz, a former ordained minister of the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, spoke to his party colleagues at the WA Parliament House about SSCA, which was funded with a four-year $8 million Commonwealth grant by the Labor government. He said that while bullying is a real problem in schools, he believed there are other anti-bullying programs that better addressed all forms of bullying.

According to him, the SSCA program isn’t what it purported to be. He cited one of the program’s materials as an example, a poster which urges schools to allow students to wear any part of a uniform regardless of their gender.

“In fact, when you look at it closer, it really is little more than a gay, lesbian, transgender lifestyle promotion program,” he was quoted by the Western Australian as saying. “The militant gay lesbian lobby is trying to get this into our schools to ‘normalise’ what they consider the LGBTI agenda.”

SSCA is a national coalition that aims to make schools safer and more inclusive for LGBTI youth. After a successful start in Victoria, it has expanded to over 240 schools in New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. It plans to launch in Western Australia in July.

Gay rights campaigner Rodney Croome said Abetz’s views displayed exactly the kind of stigma that SSCA hopes to reduce. He told the Guardian that 80 percent of homophobic bullying and abuse occurred in schools.

“The safe schools program is giving teachers the skills and information they need to effectively combat LGBTI bullying in the classroom,” he told the paper. “He can call that propaganda if he wants. I call it saving lives.”

Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren also dismissed Abetz’s comments on the anti-bullying program as “hopelessly out of touch.” She said the comments “prolong and encourage bullying based on gender stereotypes.”

“I hope the one thing that Mr Abetz’s comments achieve is more Western Australians speaking up against discrimination based on sexuality wherever they encounter it,” she said in a statement.

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