Supporting the Pride Flag at Bishops
We are parents, Old Diocesans, staff, and friends of Bishops who love this school and want it to remain a place where every boy knows, beyond doubt, that he belongs.
For several years Bishops has flown the Pride flag for a few days each Pride Month. It is a small and gentle gesture, and its meaning is simple: that the LGBT+ members of the Bishops community, and especially the boys in the school’s own care, are as welcome, as valued and as safe here as anyone else. We support the school’s freedom to make that gesture, and we hope it will continue.
We say so gladly, and on firm ground.
Our Constitution. South Africa was the first nation in the world to protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in its Constitution. That protection was deliberate, written by the generation that freed this country, who understood from the struggle against apartheid what it costs to be treated as less than equal. To affirm the dignity of a young person honours a value at the heart of our democracy.
Our Church. Bishops is an Anglican foundation whose Visitor is the Archbishop of Cape Town. St George’s Cathedral, the Archbishop’s own seat, has flown the Pride flag since the mid-1990s, some thirty years. Archbishop Tutu, who opposed homophobia with the same passion he had opposed apartheid, would not “worship a God who is homophobic.” Archbishop Makgoba affirms that all people, whoever they love, are full members of the body of Christ. In welcoming its LGBT+ pupils, Bishops lives out its Christian character at its very best.
Our boys. This flag is close to home. It speaks to the dignity and care of our own children, and a school that exists “to inspire individuals” must first let every individual know that he matters.
We respect that the flying of flags rests with the School Council. We write only to make plain that a broad and diverse body of people who care about Bishops, different in our backgrounds and beliefs but united in our care for these boys, hope the school will continue this quiet sign of welcome.
If that is your hope too, add your name.