A Victorian school principal has defended a decision to ban a lesbian student from bringing her younger girlfriend to a school dance, saying it was a function only for Year 11 students.
Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar principal Heather Schnagl says the school did not discriminate against same-sex relationships but had intended to create a mixed-sex event for Year 11 students.
She said the Year 11 student was not allowed to bring her partner, at the time enrolled in Year 10 at the same school in Melbourne's northeast, because the function was only for Year 11 students.
Dr Schnagl denies the student was told to bring a boy to the dance.
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"She was asked not to bring a Year 10 partner," she told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
"She was told that if she wished to bring a guest she would need to bring a male guest or come by herself, as more than half the year level did.
"We didn't want to make a distinction between someone who said they were in a partnership and someone who was just a friend," Dr Schnagl added.
"The issue is not about same-sex discrimination. The issue is about creating a Year 11 event at which Year 10 students were not welcome."
A review of the function for next year is underway and input would be sought from the Students Representative Council.
A complaint by the Year 11 student's father to the Equal Opportunity Commission and has been dismissed, Dr Schnagl said.
Victorian Equal Opportunity Commissioner Helen Szoke said she was legally unable to comment on the complaint.
