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In what is believed to be the first case in Britain, a teacher has been expelled from his profession for mis-gendering a student.
Joshua Sutcliffe was fired by the Teachers Regulation Authority (TRA) for “unprofessional conduct” and “tarnishing the reputation of the profession” by refusing to use students’ preferred pronouns.
The committee ruled that it failed to treat a transgender student who identified as male with “dignity and respect,” and was issued a restraining order after seven days of hearing.
This means he is indefinitely banned from teaching and cannot work in any UK school, sixth grade college or orphanage. The order will continue until 2025, after which it can be reviewed.
The math teacher, with the support of the Christian Law Center (CLC), is appealing the decision.
In a statement released through the CLC on Monday, the 33-year-old said he was “devastated” by the committee’s decision.
“Based on this ruling, all teachers are at risk if they share their beliefs and views in the classroom,” he said.
“If teachers had shown or encouraged videos on liberal YouTube platforms, would they have been treated the same way I was? I think it’s psychologically damaging.
“I have refused to harm my child against my conscience and cannot apologize for that.”
same-sex marriage
The teacher, of strong Christian faith, sued Oxford’s Cherwell School in 2017 after being suspended and eventually fired for a serious misconduct of “misgendering” a student. It became a hot topic when a lawsuit was filed.
After being informed that the student wanted to be addressed by a set of preferred pronouns, Sutcliffe decided to address the student by name only.
The CLC said he was not given any warnings or guidelines on how to deal with the issue.
He said he received no training other than brief presentations from Stonewall, an organization no longer endorsed by the Department of Education.
The CLC claims that as soon as he expressed his Christian beliefs at the school, he became a “high-profile figure” and “every part of his public and private life” was subject to scrutiny.
Sutcliffe decided to quit school and took up a teaching position at St Aloysius College in North London. After he enrolled in the school for a year, he felt forced to resign because of the Christian views he posted on a personal YouTube channel criticizing Islam.
Although the legal issues between Mr. Sutcliffe and the schools were resolved, he was later pursued and investigated by regulators.
The TRA investigation culminated in a Professional Conduct Commission hearing on a series of allegations.
He was found not only guilty of refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns, but also of other charges, including speaking out against a student who disbelieved in same-sex marriage.
He was also found guilty of failing to provide an alternative perspective to students after allegedly showing him a video about masculinity by Prager-U, the head of the global conservative non-profit channel.
He was acquitted of a number of charges, including being found guilty of unprofessional conduct after uploading videos criticizing Islam to YouTube.
Rapped in a TV appearance
In a recommendation to the Secretary of State (SoS), the TRA commission said Mr. Sutcliffe demonstrated a “lack of dignity and respect” to his students by refusing to use pronouns they asked him to mention.
Evidence from the students also led investigators to rule that Sutcliffe had repeatedly misgendered the young man, an allegation Sutcliffe has always denied.
A teacher was also found to have mixed the gender of a student who allegedly said he “borrowed her calculator” in the classroom.
The Commission concluded that: “Given the evidence from the students that Mr. Sutcliffe failed to use the student A pronoun on various occasions, and Mr. Sutcliffe’s own admission that he failed to use the student A pronoun on one occasion, the Committee decided that: It is highly probable that Mr. Sutcliffe failed to use Student A’s preferred pronouns more than once during the lesson in the classroom.”
“Thus, the Committee balancedly concluded that by not using student A’s preferred pronouns, Mr. Sutcliffe failed to protect student A’s dignity and respect and failed to protect student A’s well-being. rice field.”
The committee also ruled that the math teacher failed to protect “Student A” by appearing on ITV’s “This Morning” to discuss Student A’s story.
In a statement, the CLC said the ruling contradicted a recent report by the Policy Exchange on the extent of transgender ideology in UK schools.
2023 report (pdf) on the issue of sex and gender in schools, “In many secondary schools, safety principles are routinely ignored, supporting a range of controversial beliefs that risk the well-being and safety of children. ignoring their security responsibilities,” he said. ”
The report added that “generations of children have been let down because established safety standards have been violated.”
parental support
The commission and SoS made the ruling despite imminent new government guidelines on transgender issues in schools.
In January, The Telegraph advised teachers and schools that the guidelines would force students to make a “social transition” and that the use of gender-defying preferred pronouns could cause “significant psychological harm”. reported that it could be done.
According to the CLC, Sutcliffe’s ruling also contradicts Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s recent defense of a private school teacher accused of “misgendering” after greeting “Hello girls” at an all-girls school. It is said that
The committee also rejected expert evidence by Maya Forstater, a Christian theologian and executive director of Sex Matters, and the endorsement of parents and students Sutcliffe taught.
According to the CLC, one parent whose daughter was tutored by a math teacher told a panel discussion, “Joshua was very good at his job and at teaching. He was patient, kind, caring and respectful.” He was very good at explaining things.”
The teacher said he was “brutally punished” for refusing to show remorse for his actions to the committee.
“I’ve been bullied, scrutinized, and scrutinized every part of my life for expressing my Christian faith and biological truth,” he said.
“This decision puts me and my family at risk. I have a young son and everything that is happening is affecting him.”
CLC CEO Andrea Williams described the incident as a “tipping point.”
“The government needs to step in and restore some sanity to the teaching profession,” she said in a statement.
“Similar steps need to be taken with respect to the TRA.
“I am very concerned that regulators are punishing Christian teachers for simply telling the truth.”
“The TRA targeted an exceptional teacher because his Christian beliefs are inconsistent with the new LGBTQ moral code, which does not tolerate any dissent,” Williams added. This is extremely illiberal. ”
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