Anglican school heads are delighted their alumni are demonstrating civic engagement and ethical concern for equal rights in responding to a letter signed by 34 of us in support of our need to operate our schools in accordance with our values. That is what we educated them to do. What some do not realise is that we agree with them.

John Collier, head of St Andrew's Cathedral School.

The exemptions in anti-discrimination legislation should be removed. They are unnecessary, anachronistic and not used. Alumni want them removed today. We want them removed tomorrow, that is, at the next sitting date of Parliament.

Is this different? Only in so far as heads want to see legislation introduced now to implement a raft of protections for basic freedoms, including freedom of religion, as appropriate in a liberal democracy and pluralistic society. These are necessary in Australia, which lacks a Bill of Rights. We are not arguing specifically for such a bill, but for the enshrinement in law of positive freedoms relevant to Australians across a broad spectrum.

Currently, the ability of an Anglican school to function according to its ethos is protected only by anti-discrimination legislation exemptions across a suite of legislation. It is only upon these we can rely to conduct our schools with the values for which our parents have enrolled. It is a caricature, and misleading, to reduce this to matters of sexual preference.