Some articles come along and practically write themselves.
Trinity Grammar sparks outrage after guest lecturer Basem Kerbage is pictured in act which has stunned parents
A prestigious Melbourne grammar school has sparked outrage after students widely re-shared a suggestive video involving a dildo from a guest speaker’s social media account.
Trinity Grammar in Kew hosted Queer Arab Australia founder Basem Kerbage at an assembly last Friday under Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria’s Pride Round.
The queer, pro-Palestine human rights activist addressed students from years seven to ten at the school, talking about different forms of love as part of the Pride Week event.
Students from the school found a video on Mr Kerbage’s Instagram shortly after the speech and widely reshared it.
The video on his now-locked-down Instagram page appeared to depict Mr Kerbage pushing a dildo down his throat.
Pupil’s parents were reportedly upset by the content of the video and private messaging groups were flooded with complaints.
Parents said they didn’t ‘like the direction the school is heading’ and were appalled by the choice of presenter, according to the Herald Sun.
A parent claimed that students were told to search for ‘visualise your goals’ by Mr Kerbage, which led them to the controversial Instagram post and a task titled ‘dildo hand job challenge.’
Another said the school had angered fee-paying parents with their lack of due diligence.
‘Many parents are furious that the school failed to undertake due diligence in this young, gay man’s extreme sex content digital footprint,’ she said.
In response, the school informed parents they had sourced Mr Kerbage through a reputable, government-funded organisation.
‘It has since been brought to our attention that the speakers’ social media accounts included inappropriate material including one since-deleted video which we understand the students have circulated among themselves,’ they wrote in an email.
The school said they had registered their concern with the organisation.
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Tuition fees for year seven students at the school begin at just more than $40,000 per year.
For years 11 and 12, the school charges $42,944 per year.
Other parents registered their disapproval of the speaker’s stance on the war in the Middle East.
Mr Kerbage reportedly attended the event wearing a Palestinian, black and white keffiyeh.
The scarf is traditionally worn as a protector from the sun, before also serving as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.
Parents of Jewish students at the Anglican school told local media they were dismayed by the move.
By the way, the original title of this report was Trinity Grammar sparks outrage after guest lecturer Basem Kerbage is pictured shoving a dildo down his throat. Perhaps it was a bit on the nose?
The Australian went in the opposite direction, changing their original headline Pride speaker’s anti-Israel rhetoric and X-Rated content rattle Melbourne school to the spicier (and more alliterative) Elite private school in strife over dildo drama.
Who was the dildo at the the school who thought it was a good idea having Kerbage as a speaker, not just because of his NSFW antics, but because of his clear, anti-Israel activism? As Mohammad Alfares of the Australian reports:
In a July 2024 speech, Mr Kerbage accused Israel of exploiting LGBTQ+ rights as a propaganda tool through what he called “pinkwashing.”
He questioned Israel’s portrayal as a “safe haven for queer people in the Middle East”, citing the illegality of same-sex marriage, “discrimination against Palestinians”, and alleged surveillance tactics used by Israeli intelligence to “entrap” and blackmail “queer Palestinians.”
“In 2023, one of the darkest acronyms in the world was created, WCNSF, Wounded Child, No Surviving Family,” he said.
“A term created due to Israel’s genocide on Palestine. How many of those queer WCNSF children would rather have a family member alive than accept Israel’s quest for queer rights,” he questioned.
This could only serve to further alienate Jewish students whose parents pay a fortune for their kids to attend the school, while exposing their non-Jewish classmates to more anti-Israel propaganda.
Naturally, Kerbage has flushed all his social media accounts down the memory hole (so to speak), although his Instagram is still there, just made private, presumably available to those who aren’t, say, school age.
Meanwhile, I fixed the explicit image for him:
