When Katrina, a photographer from Brisbane, posted on Facebook that she did not think drag queens are good role models for children, following publicity about a Brisbane city library drag queen story time event, she did not expect to be taken to court.
“Out of the blue, I received an email from a complete stranger in Sydney who said that I had offended him with my post and that he was going to take me to court,” Katrina told the Australian Christian Lobby’s (ACL) Babylon event at Sydney’s International Convention Centre.
“I feel like it was just a post protecting the innocence of our children. So I’m in the car with my husband and my children on the way back from mass and I pull out my phone and there’s another email from the same person and it’s a media release.
“It said, ‘Fellas, I’m just like an Alsatian dog. Once I grab hold of a gay hater’s leg, I won’t let go until the bone is bloody and bare.’
“In the email there was a snapshot of my Facebook page with a photo of my daughter. So when I saw this, I, I broke down in tears. I was really worried for my family. We didn’t know what would happen. Would we lose the house? Would we lose my business?”
Katrina is no campaigner, just a small businesswoman – a photographer with a home studio – sharing a view which The Other cheek readers may or may not agree with. But she was on the way to a tribunal hearing.
Who could she turn to for help? Her case was presented to the ACL rally as an example of the work of the Human Rights Law Alliance, (HRLA).
“We took a strong line in the defence and we made the claimant withdraw the case, but only after an extensive period of interaction with him and with the court, uh, which was about six months,” John Steenhof the principal lawyer with HRLA told the ACL rally.
“HRLA is Australia’s preeminent religious freedom law firm. Do you know why? Because HRLAis Australia’s only religious freedom law firm, Steenhof explained.
Ina culture increasingly hostile to Christian voices, HRLA has plenty of work. Steenhof gave other examples.
“Byron and Kira are a Christian couple who in 2017 were told that they were unsafe to provide temporary foster care to needy children. Why? Because of their traditional Christian beliefs about homosexuality. We’ve helped them challenge the foster care agency and the state government who came in opposition to run a claim of religious discrimination. Christian parents are some of the best and safest people to foster kids.”
Including a person who has among other writing been penalised for writing an article on the Christian website Eternity when I was its editor.
“Dr Jereth Kok is a Victorian doctor. He’s been suspended from practising medicine because he posted on the internet about his Christian beliefs on social issues, particularly abortion, homosexuality and transgenderism. The medical board suspended Jareth while investigating him and he’s been out of a job for four years awaiting trial. He’s likely to finally get his day in court next year with a decision then in 2024 if we’re lucky. Now, here’s a good doctor who has never had a complaint from a patient in 13 years of faithful service who lost his job because of his Christian beliefs.”
“This is Susan. I love Susan. She’s a student at an Australian university. Here’s an email that she sent to her university lecturer who was promoting an LGBTQ day. She said to the lecturer, Hope you’ve been having a great week. Great way to start an email. I found it disappointing that both yourself and the university felt the need to so purposefully promote the HDA Hobbit and initiate a pride group. One thing I know for sure is that pride is not a good thing always coming before a fall.
And there is only one thing on earth to boast about. That is Christ and his righteousness alone. Can you guess whether she’s a Christian yet or not? I also wonder if people realize just what the rainbow truly symbolizes. Do people know that it is a sign of the covenant that God made between himself and the earth? It is a promise that never again will waters become a flood to destroy or life. Interesting how this is chosen to now promote diversity. Basically, my point is that I’m sure you’ve got a lot of support, but I suspect there are many others who cannot align with that stance and I am one of them. Hope you have a great weekend. Enjoying less humidity.
“Isn’t that a wonderful email? We helped Susan stand up for herself when she was dragged in front of the head of department for discipline. Seems that people who send those kinds of emails can’t be social workers because they’re not sensitive enough. But we helped Susan to successfully defend herself and contest any suggestion that her beliefs disqualified her from being a social worker. And she continues to study To this day,”
Lyle Shelton who faces a trial in November for also commenting on the Brisbane drag queen story time, is another HRLA client. Shelton, the well-connected National Director of the Family First party could find his own legal team if he had to.
But the great value of HRLA is giving support to ordinary people who get caught up in the Tribunals or their employer’s diversity systems for expressing their Christian beliefs.
You don’t have to agree with every word a HRLA client might have said, or their tone, but the punishment in those cases such as Jereth Kok’s outweighs the “crime.” In other cases, even polite expressions of traditional Christian belief have run into heavy and authoritarian responses.
Steenhof asked, “So please pray for us in our work as we can test this cultural hostility and be bold in the proclamation of your faith because it is the gospel and not lawyers that are going to make Australia better.”