Christian teacher suing Oxfordshire school for suspension after ‘misgendering’ transgender pupil
from Christian Today.
A Christian maths teacher suspended by his Oxfordshire school for ‘misgendering’ a transgender pupil is suing the school on the grounds of religious discrimination.
Joshua Sutcliffe, 27, who teaches maths at an Oxfordshire secondary school, faced a disciplinary hearing and suspension after he called a transgender student who self-identified as male a ‘girl’.
Sutcliffe, a committed Christian and pastor at an Oxford evangelical church, is now taking the school to an employment tribunal, according to the Mail on Sunday. He says he is being discriminated against for his religious beliefs.
Sutcliffe began teaching at the school in September 2015; the complaint was made against him Nov 2 this year, from which an investigation and suspension followed. Sutcliffe said he had not been given any instruction on how to refer to a transgender pupil who self-identfied as male. He said he was happy to use the student’s desired name, but avoided using gender-specific pronouns like ‘he’ given his ‘sincerely held Christian belief that biological sex is God-given and defined at birth’ as the Christian legal group Christian Concern explained.
see also: Report from Christian Concern
Should primary school children learn about gender identity? From Christian Concern
NHS asks 10-year-olds if they’re ‘comfortable in their gender’ in official transgender survey for schoolchildren, by Isabella Fish, MailOnline