A Christian in the United Kingdom has been banned from teaching after he was accused of “misgendering” a female student who identified as a male.
An investigation from the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), the U.K.’s government regulatory office for education, banned 33-year-old Joshua Sutcliffe from teaching after allegedly “misgendering” the student and expressing his opposition to same-sex marriage.
While teaching math, Sutcliffe said “well-done girls” to a group of students at The Cherwell School, according to The Telegraph. The agency found that Sutcliffe had failed to show the student, a girl who identified as a boy, “dignity and respect.”
Sutcliffe was placed on leave after that incident, which took place back in 2017. Additionally, the TRA said that it was inappropriate for Sutcliffe to express his opposition to same-sex marriage and accused him of exposing the identity of the child he was accused of “misgendering” during a TV interview about the controversy.
“The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Mr. Sutcliffe fell significantly short of the standard of behaviour expected of a teacher,” the TRA said in a statement.
Alan Meyrick, the head of the TRA, said that the ruling, which prohibits Sutcliffe from teaching at any school in England, was necessary to give people faith in the education system.
“In my view, it is necessary to impose a prohibition order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession,” he said.
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Sutcliffe said in an interview with Times Radio that he would have been willing not to use pronouns, but the TRA was unconvinced. He added that his marriage comments came after a student asked him what the Christian view of marriage was, and he said it was between one man and one woman.
“You’re encouraging these students to go down a really dangerous and really serious path.”
This teacher says he is ‘heartbroken’ after he was banned from the profession for failing to use a pupil’s preferred pronouns.@StigAbell | #TimesRadio pic.twitter.com/0KrP77nzN6
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) May 23, 2023
“Well, I don’t think it’s kind, actually. I think that it’s a very dangerous path where you take powerful drugs,” he said. “You’re encouraging these students to go down a really dangerous, and really serious path. And I don’t think in our society we’re taking it serious enough.”
Sutcliffe, backed by the Christian Legal Centre, said in another statement that using pronouns not associated with a student’s biological sex would harm them.
“I believe affirming children in gender confusion in the classroom is psychologically damaging for them. I refuse to go against my conscience and cause a child harm and refuse to apologize for that,” he said.
In 2025, Sutcliffe is eligible to appeal to have his ban revoked.