A Christian teacher has been accused of “misgendering” one of his transgender pupils during a misconduct hearing.
Joshua Sutcliffe, a mathematics teacher and committed Christian, has been accused of engaging in conduct that “negatively affected pupils” by allegedly “misgendering” one of his pupils, who is described as being “transgender”.
Sutcliffe is the latest school teacher to be put under scrutiny over his religious beliefs conflicting with transgenderism, with an Irish teacher even being jailed last year following a row erupting over his refusal to use the preferred pronouns of one pupil.
According to a report by The Guardian, Britain’s Teaching Regulation Agency has accused Sutcliffe of “misgendering” one of his pupils multiple times during a misconduct panel on the issue.
The maths teacher is also accused of endangering a child’s anonymity after he went on a talk show to discuss his subsequent dismissal from a school in Oxford over the trans row, with the body claiming that his presence on the programme “made it likely” the pupil involved would be identified.
Sutcliffe has denied the charges of misconduct, with his legal representative, Michael Phillips, arguing that his client is entitled to freedom of speech and cannot be compelled to say something he does not agree with.
Phillips also disputed the claims made against Sutcliffe, saying that the teacher had only misgendered the child once within their presence, and had apologised for doing so.
The legal counsel also argued that there was no evidence that using the child’s preferred pronouns would benefit them, putting into question the charge of misconduct.
“There is no evidence it was in Pupil A’s best interest to have preferred pronouns used,” Phillips remarked. “It was their wish but it doesn’t follow there was ethical justification for this.”
An accusation that Sutcliffe shared his views on same-sex marriage during a maths class was also rejected, with the teacher instead saying that he only shared those views during a Bible study session he set up in the school.
The hearing continues.
Meanwhile, Sutcliffe is far from the first educator who has come under fire for being seen to challenge the politics of transgenderism, with other teachers across the world ending up in hot water after resisting the progressive movement.
One of these individuals is Irish secondary school teacher Enoch Burke, who ended up being jailed by the Irish state after a row over him allegedly refusing to use a child’s preferred pronouns escalated.
Refusing the recognise a court order for him to stay away from the school where he was then employed, as he said it went against his right to religious freedom, Burke was eventually put behind bars by a High Court judge in September of last year.
Burke was only released from the prison shortly before Christmas, with it being judged that he would be unable to try and attend the school as it was closed for the holiday period at the time.
Despite having since been dismissed from his post, Burke continues to regularly attend the school, prompting him to receive fines from the court, which still is of the view that Burke is in breach of a legal court order.