EPTOn the night of her school formal, Hannah Williams found herself all dressed up with nowhere to go.
After inviting friends to her home for ''pre-drinks'', the 16-year-old stood on her doorstep and watched her classmates file into the darkness to attend one of the highlights of the school year.
Instead of joining them, Hannah took off her heels and black dress and went to bed.
A few weeks earlier a teacher had told the year 11 student she couldn't attend the dance with her 15-year-old girlfriend, Savannah Supski. She was asked to bring a male instead. ''It made me very upset. I thought it was unfair so I didn't go,'' she said.
''I put a lot of effort into trying to fix things. I had meetings with principals; looked through the Equal Opportunity Act; all my friends put posters up around the school and the teachers ripped them down. There was an easy solution; they just needed to let me go with my girlfriend.''
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/MbEHZ.jpg)
‘‘It made me so upset’’ ... Hannah Williams, left, and her girlfriend, Savannah Supski,
are changing schools so they can be together. Photo: Angela Wylie.
Hannah's father, Peter Williams, lodged a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission, alleging the school - Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School in Melbourne - had discriminated against his daughter because of her sexual orientation.
''The school kept saying because it is an all-girls school we want to make an event where they can meet boys in a social scenario,'' he said. ''That process is anachronistic and creates feelings of discrimination among girls who are same-sex-attracted.''
After lodging the complaint in September, Mr Williams had a mediation session with the school but the two parties were unable to reach a conclusion.
The Williams family did not take matters further because it was becoming too stressful for their daughter, who will complete her final exams next year.
Mr Williams said the experience had forced his daughter to move to a ''more accepting'' government school.
Savannah, now 16, is also changing schools to be with her girlfriend and was happy to hear that their new school allowed same-sex couples to attend the formal. ''It was a homophobic issue and I feel extremely discriminated against at the old school,'' she said.
Sian Supski supports her daughter's decision to change schools. ''The idea that there had to be a gender balance at the dinner dance seemed to be discriminatory. It was a very difficult time for Savannah but she's an amazingly strong young person and we are very proud of her.''
The principal of Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar, Heather Schnagl, said the event did not discriminate against same-sex couples and was designed to promote a co-educational experience.
''I don't think it's appropriate they feel discriminated against, and I'm very upset they feel that,'' she said.
''If we opened it up and said girls could bring another female they would all bring females; the policy is trying to create an event where boys are invited. We are a school that has an all-girls environment, and they are meant to invite guests, not partners.''
She said age was also an issue. ''It's an event for year 11s and the student's guest was in year 10.''
Hannah said her friends took younger males and she was the only one asked to provide the age of her date. ''They kept on making up excuses, and said everything was a problem for me.''
The president of the NSW Secondary Principals' Council, Christine Cawsey, said it should be a matter for the student's family to decide. ''Our view is that if a student's family feels the partner is the best partner to bring then that's fine,'' she said. ''But I do understand that some schools can have different rules.''
The Equal Opportunity Commission said it could not comment.
After inviting friends to her home for ''pre-drinks'', the 16-year-old stood on her doorstep and watched her classmates file into the darkness to attend one of the highlights of the school year.
Instead of joining them, Hannah took off her heels and black dress and went to bed.
A few weeks earlier a teacher had told the year 11 student she couldn't attend the dance with her 15-year-old girlfriend, Savannah Supski. She was asked to bring a male instead. ''It made me very upset. I thought it was unfair so I didn't go,'' she said.
''I put a lot of effort into trying to fix things. I had meetings with principals; looked through the Equal Opportunity Act; all my friends put posters up around the school and the teachers ripped them down. There was an easy solution; they just needed to let me go with my girlfriend.''
‘‘It made me so upset’’ ... Hannah Williams, left, and her girlfriend, Savannah Supski,
are changing schools so they can be together. Photo: Angela Wylie.
Hannah's father, Peter Williams, lodged a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission, alleging the school - Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School in Melbourne - had discriminated against his daughter because of her sexual orientation.
''The school kept saying because it is an all-girls school we want to make an event where they can meet boys in a social scenario,'' he said. ''That process is anachronistic and creates feelings of discrimination among girls who are same-sex-attracted.''
After lodging the complaint in September, Mr Williams had a mediation session with the school but the two parties were unable to reach a conclusion.
The Williams family did not take matters further because it was becoming too stressful for their daughter, who will complete her final exams next year.
Mr Williams said the experience had forced his daughter to move to a ''more accepting'' government school.
Savannah, now 16, is also changing schools to be with her girlfriend and was happy to hear that their new school allowed same-sex couples to attend the formal. ''It was a homophobic issue and I feel extremely discriminated against at the old school,'' she said.
Sian Supski supports her daughter's decision to change schools. ''The idea that there had to be a gender balance at the dinner dance seemed to be discriminatory. It was a very difficult time for Savannah but she's an amazingly strong young person and we are very proud of her.''
The principal of Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar, Heather Schnagl, said the event did not discriminate against same-sex couples and was designed to promote a co-educational experience.
''I don't think it's appropriate they feel discriminated against, and I'm very upset they feel that,'' she said.
''If we opened it up and said girls could bring another female they would all bring females; the policy is trying to create an event where boys are invited. We are a school that has an all-girls environment, and they are meant to invite guests, not partners.''
She said age was also an issue. ''It's an event for year 11s and the student's guest was in year 10.''
Hannah said her friends took younger males and she was the only one asked to provide the age of her date. ''They kept on making up excuses, and said everything was a problem for me.''
The president of the NSW Secondary Principals' Council, Christine Cawsey, said it should be a matter for the student's family to decide. ''Our view is that if a student's family feels the partner is the best partner to bring then that's fine,'' she said. ''But I do understand that some schools can have different rules.''
The Equal Opportunity Commission said it could not comment.
A 16 year-old was told she couldn't attend her end of year formal (dance/prom) because she insisted on inviting her girlfriend, a 15 year-old at the same school. The school claimed it was because the dance was meant to serve as an event in which girls could socialise with boys, the school being an all girls school. Additionally the school suggested that the event was for year 11's and that the 15 year old was too young.
So who accepts the school's reasoning? Who thinks they're full of it?
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/girls-interrupted-samesex-couple-banned-from-ball-20101109-17m29.html
