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A Christian doctor is suing the government after he was sacked for refusing to refer to patients except by their obvious biological sex.
Dr David Mackereth, a doctor with over two decades experience with the National Health Service, was dismissed by the Department for Work and Pensions on the grounds that refusing to call a patient by their preferred pronoun was “harassment” under the UK’s Equality Act.
However, the Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which is representing Dr Mackareth, says that on the contrary it is the DWP that discriminated against Dr Mackareth.
They say that the doctor was discriminated against due to his “belief in the truth of the Bible, and in particular, the truth of Genesis 1:27: ‘So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.’ It follows that every person is created by God as either male or female. A person cannot change their sex/gender at will. Any attempt at, or pretence of, doing so, is pointless, self-destructive, and sinful.”
The CLC says that the DWP was in the wrong for coercing staff to use “transgender pronouns” against their freedom of though, conscience and religion.
Christian Concern reports that:
With 26 years’ experience working for the NHS, Dr Mackereth began assessing clients for the DWP as a Health and Disability Assessor in June 2018. After undergoing intensive training, his role was to assess individual cases and prepare reports which the DWP use to determine a client’s eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance.
Yet. After only a few days into the new role, he was summoned for an urgent meeting with James Owen from the APM employment agency which had successfully head-hunted Dr Mackereth for the role. Mr Owen was concerned about a sceptical comment Dr Mackereth made during an earlier training session, where he was told that his report must refer to clients by such pronouns as they may choose, regardless of their biological sex.
Mr Owen allegedly put the following question to Dr Mackereth: “What would you do if you were to assess someone who is obviously a man but asks to be referred to as ‘she’ or ‘Missis’ in the report?” Dr Mackereth replied that as a Christian, he could not accede to such a request in good conscience. He was then suspended.
“We are not allowed to think what we believe”
Mr Owen wrote twice to Dr Mackereth asking him “one final time” whether he would comply with the DWP’s requirements. However, Dr Mackereth replied:
“I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. He made all things including/especially mankind. We read that He made them “male and female” (Genesis chapter 1 verse 27.)
“In good conscience I believe that gender is determined by biology and genetics, and I see no reason to be in any way ashamed of that.
A week later Dr Mackereth was sacked.
“I am determined to fight for justice in this case”, said Dr Mackereth.
“Firstly, as a society and in the medical profession, we are not allowed to say what we believe. Secondly, as my case shows, we are not allowed to think what we believe. Finally, we are not allowed to defend what we believe.
“Christians must be able to hold and express their faith in private and public and to uphold Biblical and scientific truths without fear of losing their livelihoods", he said.
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said that Dr Mackereth is a “Christian hero who chose to sacrifice his distinguished professional career rather than compromise on the Bible and his conscience.”
“The requirement to use so-called transgender pronouns defies common sense and Christian faith."
“It serves no useful purpose except filtering out firm Christians and men of principle such as Dr Mackereth.
“We are determined to fight all the way to secure justice in this case. If freedom to tell the truth – in this case calling a man “he” and a woman “she” – is suppressed, then truth itself is suppressed”, said Williams.
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