Christian doctor lost job after refusing to use transgender pronouns

By Mark Ellis —

A Christian doctor in the United Kingdom lost his position at a government department after he refused to refer to “a six-foot-tall bearded man” as “madam.”

Dr. David Mackereth, 56, maintains he was canned because of his religious convictions. The father-of-four had been serving as a disability benefits assessor for the Department of Work and Pensions, according to The Telegraph.

Mackereth was pulled from his work and asked the following hypothetical question by his manager: “If you have a man six foot tall with a beard who says he wants to be addressed as ‘she’ and ‘Mrs’, would you do that?”

The doctor said he would not use transgender pronouns.

In an email exchange that followed his refusal, his boss said: “If however you do not want to do this, we will respect your decision and your right to leave your contract.”

“I am a Christian and in good conscience cannot do what the DWP is requiring of me,” Dr. Mackereth replied.

He insists he did not resign his position and is the victim of direct discrimination and harassment, according to The Telegraph.

He claimed during a subsequent hearing he was ultimately fired “not because of any realistic concerns over the rights and sensitivities of transgender individuals, but because of my refusal to make an abstract ideological pledge.”

At the hearing he made the bold declaration that transgenderism is a “delusional belief” and an ideology “which I disbelieve and detest,” according to The Telegraph.

He told the hearing: “If you believe in gender fluidity, gender is no more than one’s own fantasy about oneself. The very fact a doctor can be pulled off the shop floor for an urgent interrogation about his beliefs on gender fluidity is both absurd and very sinister, even more so if it results in a dismissal.”

In addition to his 30 years of medical experience, Mackereth is a trained theologian, evangelist, and “unashamed” Christian.

Dr Mackereth told the hearing: “If something like that happened in a church setting – people being pulled out of a pew, questioned, and then excommunicated – that would be seen as an outrageous example of religious intolerance and bigotry.”

The DWP argues that Dr. Mackereth’s views violate the 2010 Equality Act.

The doctor is also suing APM, the recruitment company that hired him, charging them with religious discrimination.

The company claims that the doctor’s beliefs “are not compatible with human dignity”.

Dr. Mackereth said at the hearing: “I appreciate that in the present political climate, some people, including some of those who believe they are transgender, may find my beliefs to be offensive.

“However, in a free society, this is not a good enough reason to censor my beliefs and coerce me to act contrary to my conscience.

“Moreover, as a doctor, my responsibility is always to act in good conscience in the best interest of the patients – not to adopt various fancies, prejudices, or delusions, to avoid offense at all cost.”

Dr. Mackereth believes transgenderism is a “rebellion against God, which is both pointless and sinful.”

“It is only recently that transgenderism has been recognized as normal and such delusional beliefs accepted at face value. What is responsible for that change is political pressure, not scientific evidence.”