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An Irish evangelical teacher was imprisoned after a battle with his school for not using a students preferred gender neutral pronoun, “they.”
Teacher Enoch Burke, was suspended by Wilson’s Hospital School after he was addressed by the principal on why he would not use the pronoun “they” instead of “he,” according to Irish media outlet Indepent.ie.
Burke was jailed for contempt of court and has been separated from the general Mountjoy Prison population in Dublin, Ireland until a negative COVID test.
Burke told a judge on Monday that he would not abide by the court restraining order to keep him from going to work while he was suspended. Burke believes that by abiding by the restraining order and not showing up at the school would violate his Christian beliefs.
“I am here today because I would not call a boy a girl,” Burke said during his hearing with a judge on Monday. The History and German teacher is appalled that the school and court have gone to such drastic measures. “It is insanity that I will be led from this courtroom to a place of incarceration, but I will not give up my Christian beliefs,” Burke says.
Wilson Hospital School is a high school run by the Church of Ireland with boarding and day students. Despite the school’s tie to the Church of Ireland, school administrators are the ones who fought for Burke to be arrested because he didn’t comply with their restraining order.
After the school filed a court restraining order, Burke reportedly showed up to the school and sat in empty classrooms stating that he was ready to teach students.
On Monday the court decided that Burke will have to stay in prison until he agrees to comply with the terms of the injunction which he has refused to do so far.
The school says they were complying with Ireland’s Equal Status Act by not discriminating against any student in the school.
Despite the fact that transgenderism is against what the Bible says, the court isn’t taking into consideration why Burke initially refused to comply with the restraining order.
“I am a teacher and I don’t want to go to prison. I want to be in my classroom today, that’s where I was this morning when I was arrested” Burke says.
The court maintains the notion that they are only taking action against Burke’s refusal to comply with the restraining order, not his Christian beliefs. Burke will remain in prison until he agrees to not attend the school and attempt to teach his students.
We will continue to update you on Burke’s case as information comes in. {eoa}
Shelby Lindsay is an assistant editor for Charisma Media.
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