A Christian teacher facing allegations ranging from ‘misgendering’ a pupil and calling Muhammad a ‘false prophet’ could lose his career.
In January, 32-year-old Joshua Sutcliffe, appeared before a teachers’ disciplinary panel and denied the charges. Sutcliffe, who is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, was dismissed in 2017 from Cherwell school after refusing to use a pupil’s preferred pronoun in breach of its equality policy – despite having an exemplary teaching record.
Sutcliffe said he avoided using gender specific pronouns to accommodate the pupil’s needs and his own Bible-based beliefs that humans are born male or female. He denied misgendering anyone and his subsequent action for constructive dismissal and discrimination was settled out of court.
In November 2019, Sutcliffe resigned from St Aloysius College, Islington following complaints over views he posted on his personal YouTube channel. Sutcliffe claimed constructive dismissal from the school in Islington after making a video in which he said: ‘Muslims have a false understanding of God because they’ve been led by a false prophet’; and that ‘the Fruit of Islam is not peace, it’s division’.
An expert witness, theologian Dr Martin Parsons, told the Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) hearing that Sutcliffe’s video was ‘essentially a sermon, what you would find in many churches’. He said: ‘Jesus says there is only one way to God, all other people who claim to come after me will be false prophets. Islam holds exactly the same view in terms of other religions.’
Further allegations against Sutcliffe by the TRA include sharing his belief that same-sex marriage is wrong – even though a pupil asked him for his views. When asked about LGBT issues, Dr Parsons told the hearing: ‘The Bible does not single out LGBT, anything outside of marriage between a man and woman is sin.’
The hearing was adjourned so that further expert reports could be obtained.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: ‘The TRA is targeting an exceptional teacher because his Christian beliefs do not fall in line with the prevailing secular orthodoxy which cannot tolerate any dissent.’
