A teacher who refused to use gender-neutral pronouns for a transgender student has been sent to Mountjoy prison for contempt of court, reports CBS News.

It’s important to note that Enoch Burke was jailed for breaching a court order not to show up on school premises, and not for ‘misgendering’ per se. However, the court order barring him from the school was in place because of his refusal to use ‘they’ for a transgender student, and people are arguing this order should not have been granted in the first place.

Even still, it probably would have been a better idea for Burke to appeal to the school governors or an employment tribunal, rather than publicly protest at Westmeath School after being barred. As such he was arrested and jailed this week, telling the judge after he’d made his ruling:

‘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.

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.’

The whole dispute began over Burke’s refusal to address a transitioning student as ‘they’ rather than ‘he’, as requested by the student and their parents in May, and agreed to by the Church of Ireland school. This led to his suspension on the day before the start of the autumn term, pending the outcome of a disciplinary process.

Burke refused to remain away from the school on paid leave for that suspension, and would instead turn up and sit inside an empty classroom, declaring that he was there to work.

Burke told the court he loved his students, to whom he teaches German, history, politics, and debating:

‘I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, actions not words, but I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl.

Transgenderism is against my Christian belief. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school.’

Referring to his suspension, Burke said:

‘It is extraordinary and reprehensible that someone’s religious beliefs on this matter could ever be taken as grounds for an allegation of misconduct.

My religious beliefs are not misconduct. They are not gross misconduct. They never will be. They are dear to me. I will never deny them and never betray them, and I will never bow to an order that would require me to do so. It is just not possible for me to do that.’

Judge Quinn clarified he was not ruling on the merits of Mr Burke’s arguments regarding his religious belief or his suspension, but merely on the question of whether there had been a willful breach of a court order, which is fair enough really. Technically Burke did breach his court order, and he knew full well that the consequences for that would be jail. Whether the court order should have been in place or whether he should have been suspended for refusing to use a transgender student’s gender-neutral pronouns is another matter altogether, and one we can debate until the cows come home. Does a student’s right to be referred to by their preferred pronouns trump a teacher’s religious beliefs? What does the biology teacher at Westmeath School think?

The judge told Burke he could purge his contempt at any stage, by agreeing to the order not to attend the school or attempt to teach there. So I guess the ball’s in his court from here…

For the gender-fluid engineer awarded £180,000 compensation after his colleagues called him ‘it’, click HERE.