A British former teacher is left looking for a new career after committing the cardinal sin of “misgendering” a student. Joshua Sutcliff was also blatantly honest about his feelings on controversial topics when asked.
The Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA), which oversees investigations into serious misconduct, ruled that the 33-year-old educator did not afford “dignity and respect” to a biological female who identified as male.
That’s the word from the Christian Legal Center on Tuesday, which represents Sutcliffe.
The offending incident centered around an act of praise. The teacher commended a group of students by telling them, “well done, girls.” Sutcliffe said his egregious misgendering was an accident and he immediately expressed his regret.
That was not enough for the governing agency, which declared that the educator did not “uphold Pupil A’s dignity and respect and failed to safeguard Pupil A’s wellbeing.”
The world has truly gone mad. Joshua Sutcliffe BANNED FROM TEACHING for misgendering a child (decided on a whim they were a different gender to birth).
His offence: Saying ‘Well done girls’.
Yet extreme left wing teachers are ‘fine’ 🤦♂️
Glad to meet him at @TalkTV tonight pic.twitter.com/NWv3HOKk8b
— Russell Quirk (@russellquirk) May 23, 2023
The panel further asserted that Sutcliffe likely committed the act of misgendering on other occasions since he was known to have done it once. He denied that the error was in fact a pattern.
The teacher has now been forced to leave his position at two institutions, Cherwell School in Oxford and a Catholic school in Islington, North London. His previous infraction was reportedly saying that Muhammad was a “false prophet.”
Allegations also surfaced that he used class time to show students a PragerU video titled “Make Men Masculine Again,” though Sutcliffe denied the claim.
TRA official Alan Meyrick defended the decision to strip Sutcliffe of his profession. He explained that in his view, “it is necessary to impose a prohibition order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession.”
Sutcliffe said he is “devastated” in the aftermath of the ruling, which also found him guilty of voicing opinions against gay marriage. He restated his belief that affirmation of children experiencing “gender confusion” is psychologically damaging and causes harm.
He said he refuses to apologize for that.
The now former teacher appeared on television with British host Piers Morgan this week. In the segment, he claimed that all adulterers should be executed and that “all sin deserves the death penalty.”
He is able to appeal his “permanent” prohibition from the profession in 2025.
