A gender critical teacher has told a tribunal he was sacked after refusing to use a trans student’s preferred pronouns.
As reported by the Mail, Kevin Lister, 60, was dismissed for gross misconduct in September 2022 by New College Swindon following complaints by two students. The report continues:
The maths teacher had refused to refer to a biologically female student, 17, by their preferred male name and he/him pronouns in A-level lessons.
Mr Lister has taken the college to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal, discrimination or victimisation on grounds of religion or belief, and that he suffered a detriment and/or dismissal due to exercising rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act.
The hearing was told that the teenager – known only as Student A – had informed the college in September 2021 they wished to be addressed by a boy’s name and with the male pronouns.
Giving evidence, Mr Lister, from Wiltshire, suggested the decision of Student A to use male pronouns had the effect of “compelled speech” – meaning he and fellow students had to follow their wish, irrespective of their own beliefs.
“I took issue with the demand on me to socially transition children who are unable to make an informed decision,” he told the hearing at the Bristol Civil Justice Centre.
“That is the intention of the policy – to encourage children to socially transition and to push them towards transgender lobby groups.
“Why are we not allowed to question why a student is presenting in the opposite sex?
“It is not the role of a maths teacher to confirm the gender transition and social transition of a student.”
Mr Lister said that, as a teacher, he had an “obligation to teach facts” and said college policies went beyond the Equality Act and claimed they were “illegal” as a result.
“I do say this is breaching the Equality Act because you are encouraging the idea that a non-binary person can come into class and say she is a boy and by the afternoon she can say somewhere between the two,” he said.
Referring to the college policy, Mr Lister said: “It doesn’t require gender-critical people to change their beliefs.
“What the policy does require is to be accepting in a way that is contrary to our beliefs.”
The hearing continues.
Worth reading in full.
