David Mackereth, an experienced Christian doctor who refused to use transgender pronouns at work, was told his belief in Genesis 1:27 is not worthy of respect by the judge who presided over his Employment Tribunal case in early October.
The judge ruled that: ‘Lack of belief in transgenderism and conscientious objection to transgenderism … are incompatible with human dignity and conflict with the fundamental rights of others.’ He continued: ‘In so far as those beliefs form part of [Mackereth’s] wider faith, his wider faith also does not satisfy [the requirement of being worthy of respect in a democratic society, not incompatible with human dignity and not in conflict with the fundamental rights of others.]’
The ruling puts a belief in the Bible on a par with racist and neo-Nazi ideologies which have been held to be ‘not worthy of respect in democratic society’ in earlier judicial decisions.
Mackereth, an NHS doctor of 26 years experience, had not refused to work with a trans patient. He had declined to make ‘an abstract ideological pledge’ in conversation with a manager at the Department for Work and Pensions to call a biological man a woman.
Stonewall critiqued
In related news, in a letter to The Sunday Times campaigners, including its own founder Simon Fanshawe, accused Stonewall of intransigence, noting that women’s protections are being undermined by the uncritical embracing of ‘gender identities’. The letter said: ‘The most worrying aspect … is that all primary children are now challenged to review their ‘gender identity’ and decide that they may be the opposite sex if they do not embrace outdated gender stereotypes.
Abused
In the USA, a group of men and women who formerly identified as transgender wrote to the US Supreme Court to tell judges that affirming gender confusion is abuse. Nine people contributed to the document submitted to the court, giving their own testimonies of how they all regretted their ‘transition’ and how attempting to change sex can have unintended consequences. Among those putting their names to the brief were Walt Heyer, Jamie Shupe, and Jeffrey McCall.
