Shelley Argent Launches Counter Petition to Protect LGBTQIA+ Inclusion In QLD Schools

Argent’s petition has attracted 2,197 signatures, already outstripping the 1,182 signatures on an earlier petition opposing the department’s relationship with the ACON-run program.

Now Shelley is once again calling on the community to rally together.

Shelley Argent calls for Education Queensland to keep Pride in Diversity

“Our kids matter. So do the teachers and staff who care for them,” Shelley Argent wrote on Facebook, encouraging supporters to sign and share the petition.

“LGBTIQA+ students and staff deserve to feel safe, supported and welcome at school.”

Argent said supporting teachers and other school employees helped create an environment where young people could also feel accepted.

“When teachers and staff feel safe to be themselves, it helps create a school where students can feel safe to be themselves too.”

Her petition to Queensland Parliament asks the Department of Education to continue participating in LGBTQIA+ workplace inclusion programs, including Pride in Diversity, and rejoin where necessary.

It also calls for professional support, resources and training to help school staff prevent and respond to discrimination, harassment and bullying affecting LGBTQIA+ employees and students, including the restoration of support that has been removed.

Argent’s petition cites Australian research reporting that 60 per cent of LGBTQA+ young people surveyed felt unsafe or uncomfortable at school because of their sexuality or gender identity, while 28 per cent experienced verbal harassment at school.

Argent’s message to the government is that school inclusion requires leadership.

“Let’s be honest — how on earth can we expect children to feel safe and accepted if the adults around them don’t feel supported?” she wrote.

“We need to reinstate Pride in Diversity for staff and make sure students have the support they need too.”

Nerissa Pace: A history of anti-LGBTQIA+ campaigning

The earlier petition opposing the department’s relationship with ACON was lodged by Queensland mother Nerissa Pace.

It alleges the relationship influences classroom content, student activities and recruitment, which it does not.

However, whilst Nerissa has marketed herself as a concerned mother, she has long been associated with other anti-LGBTQIA+ campaigns and organisations.

Pace is also a co-spokeswoman for Save Women’s Sport Australasia (SWSA), publicly supporting a statement criticising ABC coverage of transwomen in sport.

In 2025, she also launched another parliamentary petition calling for the reinstatement of psychiatrist Dr Jillian Spencer to Queensland Health after she was stood down over her criticism of gender-affirming care for young people.

Pace has also been linked to the Australian Christian Lobby, who quoted her in an article objecting to Queensland kindergarten forms allowing parents to nominate they/them pronouns for their children.

The education department rejected the Pace’s characterisation of Pride in Diversity as a student program, describing its membership as staff-based.

The department said its withdrawal followed a review of external memberships. It had participated since 2018 and received Platinum Employer recognition in the 2026 Australian Workplace Equality Index awards.

Shelley Argent continues to advocate for LBTQIA+ community

For Argent, the new petition continues decades of advocacy that began with a deeply personal motivation: ensuring her gay son James had the same rights and opportunities as his brother.

On her website, Argent describes how her son’s coming out prompted her transformation from a suburban mother into a national advocate. She joined the Queensland AIDS Council as a volunteer in 1998 and went on to become a prominent voice for LGBTQIA+ people and their families.

A former national spokesperson for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or PFLAG, Argent has developed educational resources, supported families and campaigned against discrimination. She received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2006 for her work promoting acceptance and equality and supporting families.

She was also a longstanding marriage equality campaigner, taking the case for equal treatment to politicians and community audiences alongside other advocates.

Now, she is asking Queenslanders to support another push for inclusion, this time centred on the people who work supporting young people in our state schools.

“This is about making sure everyone in our schools knows they belong,” Argent wrote.

“That starts with leadership from the top.”

Read and sign Shelley Argent’s petition on the Queensland Parliament website.