On Monday the 21st of October 2024, Joseph de Bruyn, as if preaching from a church pulpit, delivered a hate-filled speech to a captive audience of Australian Catholic University graduates, their guests, and staff.

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His lengthy pontification covered such topics as abortion as the single largest killer of humans, the abomination of gay marriage, and the crime of IVF. It is unclear whether the intention of his speech, from the beginning, was to offend as many people in attendance as possible, but that was certainly the effect as graduates, their guests, and staff alike hastily vacated the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre upon hearing de Bruyn’s vitriolic spewing. Obviously, the speech left much to be desired and presented an untimely horror as All Hallows’ Eve was not until the 31st. The genuine horror set in the day after, however, as I, like many people not in attendance, came across the many news articles on the incident. The articles report that ACU had received a copy of de Bruyn’s speech a week in advance of the graduation event. The previous knowledge of the speech’s content is confirmed in a letter to students from Zlatko Skrbis, “... we did encourage Mr de Bruyn to reconsider his speech through the lens of the graduating students’ achievements, hopes and aspirations.” This suggests that, despite ACU’s Melbourne LGBTQIA+ Society and the University’s mission including truth, love and human dignity, they not only provided de Bruyn with a platform to spread hate and an honorary doctorate but did so with full knowledge of the content of his speech prior to its delivery. They also charged students and their guests to witness it, effectively subjecting an audience to hate speech without their consent and profiting from it.

Though multiple student associations and societies including the SPSA (St. Patrick's Student Asociatiation of the Melbourne campus) have since released clear statements distancing themselves from the statements made by de Bruyn, it is hard to stomach those coming directly from the University itself in the wake of the ill-fated graduation ceremony.

In a mass email to students from Zlatko Skrbis, ACU’s Vice-chancellor and President, the following platitudes are offered:

“We understand this may have affected you personally and deeply regret any distress this has caused to our community.”

“We are disappointed that the speech was not what most of our graduates would expect on an occasion like this.”

However, Skrbis maintains the stance that ACU is not in the business of censoring their guest speakers.

 

On the bright side though, the email does include an offer of a full refund of graduation fees to those affected. However, this may only be due to the “extensive” media coverage of the whole debacle noted in the letter, forcing the University’s hand, so to speak. It is a weak and empty attempt to pacify a justifiably upset student body, and the University's offended staff.

 

In hindsight, the events of this graduation ceremony have led me to question the true intentions of ACU endorsing an LGBTQIA+ Society on campus or their supposed mission of love and human dignity. Perhaps the organization is only a tokenistic gesture, an attempt at virtue signaling to conceal the true beliefs of the institution while continuing to collect our tuition dollars. After all, money is just money, whether it comes from a woman, a queer person or not.

 

As a queer woman myself, I feel not only ashamed, but disgusted. Disgusted to be affiliated with this institution. Admittedly, I no longer feel safe as a queer person or woman who is pro-choice on campus. I fear possible retribution from the University and potentially lecturers in publishing this article and signing my name to it. However, my moral convictions, like those of the brave students, their guests, and staff who walked out of the graduation ceremony, are strong.