A South Australian father has taken a stand against gender ideology after he became aware his preschool child would be exposed to IDAHOBIT Day.
This morning, approximately 50 parents, grandparents and community members gathered outside Reynella East College – a preschool to Year 12 public school in Adelaide's southern suburbs – to protest the school's decision to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). South Australian Police attended the scene as the demonstration was met by counter-protesters, with officers asking both groups to remain peaceful. As reported by The Advertiser, no arrests were made.
The protest was organised by Luke Poulton, a 33-year-old father of two whose four-year-old daughter attends preschool at the college. Speaking to The Advertiser, Mr Poulton said he did not support the "gender ideology push" being directed at very young children and is considering withdrawing his children from the school. In a public statement after the demonstration, he thanked attendees for their peaceful conduct despite antagonism from counter-protesters and said families were entitled to a say in what the Department for Education taught their children.
The Reynella East protest follows a string of incidents where gender ideology has impacted students in South Australian schools. In May 2025, parents raised concerns over the inclusion of a 14-year-old trans-identifying male student in a female sporting event at a Catholic school, where the student reportedly won a significant number of races and broke two school records. In August 2025, girls at another Catholic school were told to use disabled toilets if they felt uncomfortable sharing female bathrooms with a trans-identifying male student. A parent told Women’s Forum Australia that the girls were later barred from using the disabled toilets due to the significant number of girls opting for privacy causing lengthy wait times. A South Australian mother is also reportedly pursuing legal action against the Department for Education this year over references to bestiality and incest in a presentation delivered at Renmark High School.
Women's Forum Australia's Head of Advocacy Stephanie Bastiaan applauded the families who attended this morning's protest.
"What we saw at Reynella East this morning was ordinary mums, dads, grandparents and carers defending their own children from the harms of gender ideology, including the insidious notion that children can be 'born in the wrong body'. It should never have got to this stage in the first place," Mrs Bastiaan said. "It is not easy to stand at school drop-off in front of cameras and counter-protesters and say, not my child. Every parent who turned up today deserves to be applauded and I hope it encourages more families to speak up.”
She said the demonstration showed parents were no longer prepared to be sidelined in conversations about their own children's education. "There is real power in numbers. When parents stand shoulder to shoulder, they cannot be dismissed as fringe or as a handful of troublemakers. This movement will continue to grow until South Australian families receive the outcomes they have been asking for."
Mrs Bastiaan called directly on the Malinauskas Government to act. "The Premier, the Minister for Education and the Department cannot keep pointing parents back to schools while schools point back to the government. We are calling on the South Australian Government to remove gender ideology from schools entirely, and to protect the sex-based rights of girls in toilets, changerooms, camps and sport."
In September 2025, Women's Forum Australia wrote to Premier Peter Malinauskas seeking action on the broader policy framework. Mr Poulton says he is yet to receive a substantive response. Local MPs Katrine Hildyard, Nat Cook, Nick Champion and Rhiannon Pearce have similarly been approached by concerned families seeking clarity to no avail.
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
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