Bestiality references allegedly made during presentation at Renmark High School
The South Australian Department for Education is investigating a presentation delivered to year 9 girls in a regional high school that allegedly referenced bestiality as being accepted by the LGBTQIA+ community.
Female students said teachers at Renmark High School told them to leave their lessons and attend a presentation in a separate classroom.
Students who attended the presentation on March 22 say two staff from the Headspace centre in the neighbouring town of Berri introduced a “third-party” presenter who facilitated an hour-long presentation focused on relationships.
Parents said they were not notified about the presentation, nor was it consented to.
Students said they were left unsupervised for the duration of the presentation.
Student Courtney White, 14, said she felt confused and blindsided by the presentation.
“We had a teacher that told us to grab a chair and sit in front of the board, and then the Headspace people came in and then [the teacher] left, so then we’re sitting in front of a board alone with no teachers, just the Headspace people,” she said.
“The first slide of the PowerPoint on the board was ‘You can see queerly now’ and ‘No point hiding.'”
Girls felt ‘really uncomfortable’
Fourteen-year-old Emelia Wundenberg said the presenter was graphic when referencing their own sexual preferences and spoke in sexually explicit terms about growing up and being confused about whether they idolised people of the same gender or wanted to be intimate with them.
Students say they were then given an explanation of the initialism LGBTQIA+, with each word and its meaning displayed on the screen.
“There was a slide for what the ‘plus’ means, and they just started randomly saying words that no-one knew, like bestiality,” Emelia said.
“It was on the board when they were showing what the ‘plus’ meant.”
The students said bestiality was then explained in detail and the presenter seemed to imply it was something practised by people who identified as LGBTQIA+.
“They said [the queer community] just accepts all of it, even though … isn’t it illegal?” Emelia said.
As the talk went on multiple girls, including Courtney, began to feel uncomfortable and asked to leave the classroom to “go to the bathroom”.
“We’re all just sitting there like, ‘What the hell? What are we doing here? Why are we learning about animals having sex with humans?'” she said.
“It was really disgusting, it was really uncomfortable.”
Emelia said many of those who asked to leave the classroom did not return.
When the ABC sought comment from the presenter a response was sent on the person’s behalf asking that reporters refrained from reaching out or naming them in its coverage.
