Jailed, the Christian teacher who refused to address trans pupil as ‘they’ instead of ‘ he’
A CHRISTIAN teacher has been jailed after taking a stand and refusing to address a transgender pupil as ‘they’.
Enoch Burke hit out at the ‘insanity’ as he was arrested and locked up for contempt of court in Ireland.
School bosses began an investigation into his conduct in May over his insistence on calling a pupil transitioning to become a girl ‘he’.
Mr Burke, who teaches German and history, was suspended on paid leave until the outcome of an internal disciplinary process.
But he refused to stay away, instead arriving and sitting in an empty classroom at Wilson’s Hospital School, saying he was there to teach. Last week the school’s board of management obtained a court order preventing him from teaching or being physically present at the premises.
When Mr Burke turned up again on Monday, he was arrested for breaching the order and hauled before a court where he was jailed for contempt. Representing himself, Mr Burke told the High Court in Dublin: ‘I am a teacher and I don’t want to go to prison. I want to be in my classroom today. That’s where I was this morning when I was arrested.
‘I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, actions not words, but I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl.’ He added: ‘Transgenderism is against my Christian belief. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school.
‘It’s insanity that I will be led from this courtroom to a place of incarceration, but I will not give up my Christian beliefs.’
The verdict provoked outrage online, with Piers Morgan tweeting: ‘Jailed for not wanting to call a singular person “they” – what a ridiculous farce. How can anyone believe this is right in a supposedly free, democratic society?’
Actor turned political activist Laurence Fox wrote: ‘Insane. An attack on the very fundamentals of what a democracy is.’
But Mr Justice Michael Quinn said he was ruling on whether there had been a wilful breach of a court order, not on the merits of Mr Burke’s suspension or religious beliefs. He told the teacher he must stay in prison until he agrees to comply with the terms of the injunction, which would purge his contempt of court.
Rosemary Mallon, for Wilson’s Hospital School’s board of management, said it was with a ‘heavy heart’ that it sought Mr Burke’s committal to prison.
But Miss Mallon said the Church of Ireland secondary school, a coeducational boarding and day establishment which has around 400 pupils, was left with ‘no choice’ given that he ‘knowingly’ breached the order.
She said: ‘He has made it clear that if he is not committed to prison he will attend at the school, and the concerns of the school regarding the ongoing disruption to the students remain.’ The transgender pupil and their parents made a request that they were referred to by their preferred pronoun last May.
The school, in Multyfarnham, County Westmeath, agreed but after Mr Burke refused, a disciplinary investigation was launched.
At the start of the autumn term, he was suspended on full pay until the outcome of the disciplinary process, which is expected in the next two weeks. Mr Burke, from Castlebar in County Mayo, will appear in court again today where it will be decided whether he will remain in prison until the board of management’s decision on his disciplinary case.
It is not the first time he and his evangelical Christian family have courted controversy. Last year, Mr Burke and three of his nine siblings lost a court case against the University of Galway over a decision to ban them from membership of college societies for life.
The court heard Ammi, Enoch, Isaac and Kezia Burke distributed flyers which implicitly connected gay marriage to paedophilia and incest. All ten children were home schooled by their mother, Martina Burke, who runs the Burke Christian School in Castlebar.
Three years ago, she criticised LGBTQ+ training for school principals, describing it as an ‘amoral, permissive framework’.
Mr Burke has published a controversial book titled The Hedonism And Homosexuality Of John Piper And Sam Allberry: The Truth Of Scripture. One critic wrote: ‘The book is an unrelenting and often personalised attack on two widely respected evangelical Christians.’
‘I will not give up my beliefs’