Holland: Schools May Ban Gay Teachers

In what some say is evidence of the increasing influence of Muslims in the Netherlands, a leaked letter from the country's Council Of State advises that the nation's state-funded religious schools are allowed to fire gay teachers.

The Council of State, the highest advisory body to the Dutch government, says religious schools can exclude gay teachers if they behave in ways that go against what the institution stands for, even if it’s outside the classroom. According to the advisory paper, schools are not allowed to discriminate, but they do have a right to make specific demands of their staff. European guidelines entitle schools to "demand explicit loyalty from their staff" to pass on their values, the council says. Those demands have to be directly related to the foundations of the school or other religious institutions. The current anti-discrimination law in the Netherlands states that even religious schools are not allowed to let the "single fact" of someone's sexual preference, race or gender be a factor in the hiring or firing process. But the law leaves room for so-called "additional behaviour" to be factored in. A teacher could be dismissed for "a certain lifestyle" that goes against what the institution stands for; a relationship with someone of the same sex could be qualified as such.

A representative of Islamic schools in the Netherlands exults: "Judaism, Christianity and Islam disapprove of acting gay (...) If that is what you are, apply at a different school. There are plenty of jobs at non-denominational schools."