A Christian teacher in Ireland who refused to accept the preferred pronouns of a transgender pupil was sentenced to jail time for disobeying a court order that forbade him from entering the school’s grounds.
Enoch Burke was detained on Monday morning for contempt of court, according to Newsweek. He was then taken to Mountjoy jail. In Multyfarnham, County Westmeath, Burke teaches German, history, and politics at Wilson’s Hospital School.
According to Newsweek, Burke visited the campus despite being suspended and put on administrative leave in June for openly contesting a transgender student’s chosen pronouns of “they/them.”
The school allegedly then requested Burke to accept the student’s gender identification, but he retaliated by claiming that doing so violated both his constitutional rights and the beliefs of the Church of Ireland. The school is a diocesan school for the Church of Ireland.
Burke was put on administrative leave at the end of August while the school undertook a disciplinary investigation. Newsweek was informed by the school that the instructor kept showing up on school property.
Burke claims that the school cannot expel him since there is only one reason for expulsion—gross misbehavior, as reported by Newsweek. He claims that upholding his beliefs on gender is not seriously wrong.
Such occurrences have grown widespread as instructors and schools have evolved into one of the main arenas for the culture wars in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
A Massachusetts teacher was dismissed in December after sharing videos on TikTok that showed she disagreed with critical race theory.
