Despite being fired for “misgendering” a transgender student, a Christian teacher has expressed no regret, stating he would “rather die” than “call her a him.”
It was determined that Joshua Sutcliffe, a 33-year-old math teacher at The Cherwell School in Oxford, did not treat the student “with dignity and respect” by using a female pronoun when the student identified as male.
The Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) has permanently barred a married father of one from teaching, in what is thought to be the first instance of its sort in the UK.
He informed the Telegraph about the event today, saying: “The TRA has said you don’t feel enough regret for not continuing with the pronouns.
That is the Christian position, I’m sorry. I had no intention of stating that I agreed with this. To be honest, I’d rather pass away. Although that is obviously pretty severe, that is how I feel.
After saying “Well done girls” to a group of students in 2017, Mr. Sutcliffe was placed on administrative leave and later claimed that his actions were not intentional and that he immediately apologized.
He filed a lawsuit against the school alleging discrimination and constructive dismissal.
He denies it, but the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) determined it was “more probable than not” that he used female pronouns to address the transgender student in other contexts while he was employed at the school between 2015 and 2018.
The decision has left Mr. Sutcliffe “devastated,” and he intends to appeal.
Additionally, he demanded that educators receive greater instruction on how to communicate with trans students.
Teachers already face a lot of stress. It’s a demanding job with high expectations, and the pay isn’t great either. And then they have to deal with this, and many teachers will just give in to terror,’ he said.
But many teachers, both Christian and non-Christian, will undoubtedly hold the belief that sex is unchangeable. That is why the advice is so desperately required.
The preacher’s son was expelled for misgendering and also discovered to have opposed homosexual marriage when questioned by a student.
Additionally, it was determined that Mr. Sutcliffe neglected to “consider the potential impact” of saying that being gay was wrong on his students, especially those who identify as LGBT.
According to a complaint made to the disciplinary panel, he started working at the boy’s school St. Aloysius’ College in Islington, north London, in September 2018. There, he allegedly showed students a YouTube video titled “Make Men Masculine Again” to students.
He acknowledged using the video but denied displaying it to students. But the grievance was upheld.
Another complaint about remarks he made on masculinity, such as the assertion that “men are not masculine enough” is a rising problem in modern culture, was also upheld.
“The panel was satisfied that Mr. Sutcliffe’s conduct fell significantly short of the standard of behavior expected of a teacher,” the TRA decision read.
Alan Meyrick, the decision-maker for the TRA, decided to prohibit him from teaching after he was deemed to have engaged in improper professional behavior on behalf of Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.
“In my opinion, a prohibition order must be imposed in order to maintain public confidence in the profession,” Mr. Meyrick stated.
The historic decision was made while schools awaited the first comprehensive government instructions on how to handle transgender students.
