Teacher in Ireland imprisoned for refusing to use ‘gender-neutral’ pronouns
SARA CARTER | September 6, 2022
An Irish teacher’s fight against the woke masses has landed him in jail. Enoch Burke allegedly was initially suspended on full pay from the Wilson’s Hospital School temporarily, after refusing a request from the principal to address a transgender student by “they” instead of “he,” according to Irish outlet Independent.ie.
Burke is an evangelical Christian who teaches at Wilson’s Hospital School, a high school that is run by the Church of Ireland. It is co-ed and caters to boarding and day students.
Burke continued to show up to school in order to teach, despite his suspension. As a result, the boarding school got an interlocutory injunction restraining order against him, barring him from coming in the building.
Still, Burke showed up every day to work. Then, “the school’s board of management filed a further application, and on Friday, Justice Miriam O’Regan ordered Burke to be arrested and brought into court” reports National Review.
In court, Burke continued to insist on showing up to school teach, saying, “I love my school. I am here today because I would not call a boy a girl,” the outlet reported.
Not going to work and teaching “is not something I will do. It is in violation of my conscience,” Burke added, claiming his suspension was invalid and that he would’ve had to “commit an act of gross misconduct” for it to be justified, according to the outlet.
“It is reprehensible that anyone’s religious beliefs could be taken as a ground for misconduct or gross misconduct,” Burke said. “Were I to obey the order of the board of management and the order of the court, I would have to accept that sticking by my belief in male and female is wrong.”
“It is not something I will do. It is in violation of my conscience,” he added, saying, “Were I to go into the school and bow to something I know to be manifestly wrong, it would be a shame and a disgrace on my part.”
Justice Michael Quinn ordered Burke be committed to Mountjoy Prison and remain there indefinitely “until he purges his contempt or until further order of this court.”
Burke refused to comply with the court’s order after the judge’s decision, saying, “I cannot purge my contempt by holding my Christian beliefs in contempt.”
