A High Court judge has ruled that Christian math teacher, Joshua Sutcliffe, should continue to be banned from the profession indefinitely for refusing to use the preferred pronouns of a girl identifying as a boy.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Pepperall ruled that no matter what a teacher’s religious or philosophical beliefs they must in relation to transgender pupils use compelled speech and “respect and celebrate the pupils’ personal autonomy.” He added that “just because misgendering a transgender pupil might not be unlawful does not mean that it is appropriate conduct for a teacher.”
In December 2023, the Conservative government published draft transgender guidance for schools which said teachers should not be compelled to go against their consciences by using preferred pronouns that are contrary to biological sex. Regarding the guidance, however, the judge ruled that Mr Sutcliffe’s conscience based on his Christian beliefs did not justify him referring to a girl as a she. He said:
“The draft guidance, which of course postdated these events and the panel’s decision, envisaged that schools would rarely agree to change a pupil’s pronouns but did not purport to suggest that such course would never be appropriate. As the draft made plain, such decisions are complex and are made by schools and not individually by each member of staff according to their own assessment of the merits of the request.”
The judge added that by not using preferred pronouns, Mr Sutcliffe had failed to treat Pupil A with ‘dignity and respect’. He added that Pupil A, who is a girl, ‘credibly passed for a male and was only known by male pronouns at Cherwell [school].”
Dismissing every ground of the appeal leaves Mr Sutcliffe will now appeal this ruling to the Court of Appeal.
In May 2024, Mr Joshua Sutcliffe, 34, who has been supported by the Christian Legal Centre, began pursuing a Judicial Review of the Secretary of State for Education’s decision to ban him, which was believed to be the first case of its kind.
The appeal followed an investigation and disciplinary hearing by the Professional Conduct Panel Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) which made a recommendation to the SoS that Mr Sutcliffe should be banned from teaching for a minimum of two years for allegedly “bringing the profession into disrepute”.
The case was brought against him by the TRA after he made headlines in 2017 for taking legal action against Cherwell School in Oxford after he was suspended and eventually dismissed for allegedly ‘misgendering’ a girl.
Following the story appearing in the media, he became a ‘marked man’ with every part of his life and expressions of his Christian beliefs in public and private facing the severest scrutiny.
The ban, which could see Mr Sutcliffe unable to teach again, was made despite his legal freedom not to promote gender identity belief being recognised in law.
The TRA Panel also found that Mr Sutcliffe did not maliciously intend to cause distress to pupils and that he had demonstrated exceptionally high standards in this personal life, yet still they decided to pursue the severest sanction.
Appealing to the High Court, Mr Sutcliffe’s lawyers had argued that the decisions made by the TRA and SoS, were ‘perverse’ and an ‘unjustified interference’ made in the absence of any authority – legal, psychological or otherwise.
The appeal also challenged a number of other erroneous decisions used by the TRA to justify the ban. For example, Mr Sutcliffe was found guilty of professional misconduct for playing a video from a popular American conservative outlet, PragerU, entitled ‘Make Men Masculine Again’, in form time without time for debate.
“I have been a marked man”
Responding to the ruling, Mr Sutcliffe, who has a young family, 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.
“In 2017 there was no training and no guidance on these issues for teachers. I was a young teacher building my career in the profession at a time when schools were taking guidance from Stonewall, not the government or any experts on these issues.
“With this ruling every teacher is at risk if they share their beliefs and views in the classroom.
“I believe affirming children in a transgender identity in the classroom is psychologically damaging for them.
“I refused to go against my Christian faith and conscience and cause a child harm. I refuse to apologise for that. I do not believe it is any child’s best interests to affirm them in something that is untrue. The Cass Review, the Policy Exchange report and the transgender guidance from the Conservative government vindicate me on this.
“The TRA wanted me to capitulate and say that I was wrong. I have been severely punished for refusing to do so. Despite this set back, I will continue to fight for justice and to get my career back.”
‘Teachers intimidated into silence’
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “At the Christian Legal Centre we lived this case in real time alongside Joshua. The way Mr Justice Pepperall describes Joshua in his judgment reads like fiction.
The picture Mr Justice Pepperall paints of Joshua and his beliefs is a far cry from the caring, kind and brilliant math teacher we know Joshua to be.
We create a turbulent environment in schools when facts are turned on their head against the teacher in a context where children are identifying as the opposite sex. Teachers are treading on egg shells for fear of saying the wrong thing.
“The teaching profession is not a safe place to navigate for Christian teachers. Expressing long held Christian beliefs on marriage and gender can get you suspended, investigated and barred.
“We are looking at the judgment carefully. We will continue to support Joshua for as long as it takes to secure justice.”
