A Christian maths teacher who was banned from teaching after "misgendering a pupil" has lost his High Court appeal against the decision.
Joshua Sutcliffe challenged a prohibition order issued in May 2023 by a regulator, which found him guilty of “unacceptable professional conduct” while employed at The Cherwell School in Oxford from 2015 to 2018, the Oxford Mail reports.
His lawyers argued that the order was an “unjustified interference” with his rights to freedom of speech and religion. However, the Government countered that Sutcliffe failed “to distinguish between his role as a teacher and his activities as a preacher".
In a written ruling on Thursday 25th July, Mr Justice Pepperall dismissed the appeal, stating that Sutcliffe “fails to understand or accept the harm that he caused vulnerable children in his class".
The judge found no merit in Sutcliffe’s argument that his human rights had been violated, emphasising that his professional duties to treat children with dignity and respect must be balanced against his right to express his religious convictions.
In an interview with Premier Christian Radio, Tim Dieppe from advocacy group Christian Concern, who have supported Sutcliffe, said that he was very "shocked" and "disappointed" about the outcome, claiming that this means "teachers have compelled speech".
After the judgment, Sutcliffe said: "With this ruling, every teacher is at risk if they share their beliefs and views in the classroom.”
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) had concluded that Sutcliffe did not treat a transgender student with “dignity and respect” by failing to use the student’s “preferred pronoun” in class and during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning.
The panel also found that Sutcliffe failed to safeguard pupils’ wellbeing by stating that God had stopped a person from being gay because it was wrong and by not providing a balanced view in a video about masculinity shown in a form class at St Aloysius’ College in Islington, north London, in 2018.
In his 24-page ruling, the judge stated: "It is about a teacher who told his class that homosexuality is a sin and implied that homosexuals might be cured through God without any apparent regard for the gay and lesbian children in his class, making them feel that their teacher regarded them as worthless.”
At the hearing in May, Sutcliffe’s lawyers argued that the decision to ban him, which can be reviewed after two years, was “unsafe” and based on “perverse” findings. They contended that there is “no legal requirement to use preferred pronouns” and that Sutcliffe had a right “not to believe gender identity belief".
The Department for Education, which upheld the TRA’s recommendation to ban Sutcliffe, opposed the appeal, arguing it was brought too late and had “no merit".
The judge heard that Sutcliffe had shown a “repeated disregard” for the wellbeing of pupils and had “outed” a “vulnerable” student on national TV.
The TRA panel found that Sutcliffe’s “level of insight and remorse was at best limited” and concluded that there was a serious risk of him repeating the misconduct.
Sutcliffe said: “I still stand by my Christian convictions that it is harmful and detrimental to affirm gender-confused children. This is the belief I am fighting for, which is shared by not only Christians but many who do not believe in harmful transgender ideology. I have been a marked man ever since I dared to express my Christian beliefs in a school and tell the media about how I was punished for doing so.”
He added: “Despite this setback, I will continue to fight for justice and to get my career back.”