Christian teacher who refused to use trans student’s name and pronouns jailed

A teacher suspended for misgendering a student has been jailed for contempt of court after threatening to defy a judge. 

Enoch Burke was committed to Mountjoy Prison in Dublin on Monday (5 September) after telling a High Court judge he would not abide by a court order preventing him from attending his job at Wilson’s Hospital School while suspended. He claimed that staying away would violate his religious beliefs. 

The Independent.ie reported that the evangelical Christian was suspended on full pay on 24 August pending the outcome of his disciplinary process. 

It came after Burke clashed with the school’s principal and board of management over a request that teachers address a transgender student by their chosen name and they/them pronouns.

Despite being suspended, Burke continued to turn up for work at the Church of Ireland boarding school. 

The school secured an interlocutory injunction from Ms Justice Siobhan Stack on 31 August to restrain the teacher from coming to its premises until 7 September. 

Independent.ie reported Burke opposed an application from Wilson’s Hospital School for his imprisonment, saying: “I love my school. I am here today because I would not call a boy a girl.”

Powered by Froala Editor