An Irish teacher who rose to international attention for rejecting transgender ideology and so-called preferred pronouns has been jailed for a third time after allegedly violating a court order.
Enoch Burke, who has spent over 400 days in prison for refusing to abide by a court injunction against him attending Wilson’s Hospital School, a Church of Ireland boarding school in county Westmeath, has been jailed again for contempt of court after appearing on school grounds, public broadcaster RTE reports.
Mr Burke, a devout Christian, was initially suspended from the school in 2022 after refusing to use “they” pronouns for a student who claimed to identify as transgender. Shortly thereafter, the school filed for a court injunction to prevent Burke from the grounds or from teaching while his suspension was in place.
Burke was ultimately fired from the school at the beginning of 2023, however, he has appealed the sacking and has remained a paid member of staff amid the appeal. He has claimed that the court orders preventing him from attending the school represent a violation of his religious liberties.
After trying to return to the school as students returned for the new semester this week, Mr Burke was arrested again and was sent back a third time to Mountjoy Prison for contempt of court by Mr Justice Michael Quinn on Monday. The judge has scheduled another hearing on October 11th, but has said that Burke could be released at any point if he “purges his contempt”, or in other words admits to wrongdoing.
Burke, in turn, reportedly told the judge that he would have to answer before God for jailing someone for their religious ideals. He claimed that he had been ordered by the school’s former principal to “force transgenderism on students”.
The school has argued that Mr Burke’s attempts to go back to his job represents a security risk, as unknown supporters of his could join him as he attempted to enter the grounds. The schools claimed that it was considering hiring private security over the matter.
The teacher accused Irish judiciary of refusing to confront the substance of the case, namely, the issue of the imposition of transgender ideology on religious minded people, citing the Book of Genesis to note that belief in the nature of men and women as a bedrock principle of the Christian faith.
During this week’s hearing, members of Burke’s family asked the judge to read the original report from the school justifying his suspension, accusing the judge of being afraid of reading it.
Burke is said to have told the court that they may imprison him, however, the “truth can be trampled into the ground but it’ll rise up again”.
He has previously said that he would rather stay in jail “every hour of every day for the next 100 years” than comply with demands to go against his faith, saying that he would “only obey God”.
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