According to the Daily Mail, “He had no official instructions about how to address the student, but along with other staff decided to use the pupil’s chosen first name.”
“My first objective is to get to know each student by name, to make them feel welcome,” explained Sutcliffe. “For me, this student was a girl. Turns out, this student wants to be called a boy. This shouldn’t be expected upon teachers to know all the ins and outs of students, especially if they are a brand new student that I haven’t been told any information about.”
Though he’s an evangelical Christian with specific convictions about God’s designation of the male and female gender, he had no intention of breaking school policies or causing harm to the student. Still, an honest mistake nearly cost him his career and reputation.
“I had always tried to respect the pupil and keep a professional attitude as well as my integrity, but it seemed to me that the school was trying to force me to adhere to its liberal, leftish agenda,” said Sutcliffe.
“This case is one of a flood of cases we are encountering where teachers are finding themselves silenced or punished if they refuse to fall in line with the current sexual and gender ideology being imposed on our children in schools,” remarked Christian Concern CEO, Andrea Williams, of the situation.
Now the wrongly-accused math teacher has had enough, and he is attempting to turn the tables to take a stand for what he believes is right. In a letter to the school’s headmaster, Sutcliffe firmly asserted his beliefs and stated that he will be taking legal action over the matter:
“As a Christian, I do not share your belief in the ideology of transgenderism. I do not believe that young children should be encouraged to self-select a ‘gender’ which may be different from their biological sex; or that everyone at school should adjust their behavior to accommodate such a ‘transition’; or that people should be punished for lack of enthusiasm about it.
I am more than willing to answer all the unjustified allegations you are now advancing against me, and detail my own grievances about your totalitarian ‘equality’ policies and practices. However, I intend to do so before an independent tribunal, not before yourselves acting as a judge and jury in your own case. I regret that our relations have reached this point, but I feel I have no choice but to bring legal proceedings against you without further notice.”
For Sutcliffe, the ‘misgendering’ ordeal is just one issue indicative of a much larger problem running rampant in public schools.
