From LGBT Paralympic Winning Silver Medal to Gay Teachers Facing Discrimination, This Week in Int’l LGBT News – SouthFloridaGayNews.com
This week read about Ireland praising Katie-George Dunlevy after winning a silver medal in the Olympics, and gay teachers in Australia being discriminated against.
Ireland Celebrates LGBT Paralympic After Winning Silver Medal
Katie-George Dunlevy, a queer para-cyclist, earned a silver medal at the Paralympic Games, bringing joy to Ireland’s LGBT community.
Dunlevy said she was “speechless” after she and her riding partner Eve McCrystal took silver in the B 3000-Meter Individual Para-Cycling event.
According to PinkNews, the pair set a new world record, finishing the round in 3.19.946, but the British team of Lora Fachie and Corinne Hall beat their time and claimed the gold medal.
“If someone said to me before that I would get a medal in the pursuit I would never have thought it in my wildest dreams. We were hoping to do a good ride and get a PB,” said Dunlevy. “To get that and a world record, I’m just speechless.”
Gay Teachers Face Discrimination
Photo via PxHere.
Steph Lentz, an ex-English teacher at a small low-fee Christian School in Australia, was fired under state and federal law.
Lentz’s story is one of many stories of discrimination against LGBT teachers dismissed or pushed out of their jobs, or pressured into remaining silent about their sexuality.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, under these laws, religious organizations, which includes government-funded evangelical schools, have exemptions from anti-discrimination legislation.
However, as the federal government prepares to present the third draft of its divisive Religious Discrimination Bill to Parliament later this year, LGBT employees and students fear that they may face even harsher punishment.
“Australian law already allows the kind of discrimination that got me sacked for what I believe and who I am,” said Lentz. “The new bill will only reinforce that religious schools can continue to discriminate with outdated, stagnant views and processes.”