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After Enoch Burke, an Irish secondary school teacher refused to refer to a male student with the pronoun “they,” he was placed on paid administrative leave.
The court issued an injunction that prevents Burke from being on school property until the disciplinary process has been completed.
Burke said in an interview that he is “here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl.”
“I am not allowed to speak the truth,” Burke said. “I am not allowed to tell people what is happening in our schools. And if I don’t agree with it, then I am punished.”
Burke said he was told by the school’s principal that he would be suspended without pay if he did not comply with the order to use male pronouns for the student.
The teacher said he was offered counseling and sensitivity training but refused both.
“This is not about me being insensitive,” Burke said. “This is about me being truthful.”
Burke said he plans to appeal the decision and will continue to fight for the rights of students and teachers to speak the truth.
Burke said, “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.”
“I can’t do it in good faith,” said Burke. He defied the injunction by returning to school. He was arrested and returned to court.
The teacher said he is willing to use the student’s preferred name, but not the pronoun, because doing so would violate his religious beliefs.
“I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl,” Burke told the court. “It goes against everything I believe in.”
The judge ordered Burke to be jailed until he agrees to comply with the injunction. It is unclear how long he will be behind bars.
Burke was sentenced to five months in prison after being found guilty of “aggravated breach of the peace” for his refusal to address a student by their preferred pronouns.
The incident took place back in 2019 when the student in question approached Burke and asked to be referred to as “they” instead of “he.”
Burke refused, citing his Christian beliefs, and was subsequently reported to the police.
He was arrested and charged with a hate crime but was ultimately cleared of all charges in 2020.
However, the student in question pressed on with a civil case against Burke, and he was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to five months in prison.
Burke is appealing the decision, but for now, he remains behind bars.
Instructors who refuse to support the left’s goals should not be surprised if they are fired, even though Americans are supposed to have religious freedoms according to the Constitution.
While Americans should be exempt from such treatment as a result of our religious freedoms in the Constitution, the left would love nothing more than to see instructors fired if they refuse to support its far-reaching goals.
