Enoch Burke, an evangelical Christian, was suspended with pay from Wilson Hospital School in Co Westmeath for refusing to call the student “them”. “I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, actions not words, but I’m here today because I said I wouldn’t call a boy a girl,” she told the judge before being jailed for breaching a court order not to go or try to teach at the Church of Ireland school. The court heard Monday that Burke had refused to stay away from the school on paid leave during the disciplinary process. Instead, he sat in an empty classroom and declared that he was there to work. The judge told the history and German teacher he must remain in jail until he agrees to comply with the terms of the order, which will clear him of contempt of court. Burke said: “Being transgender is against my Christian beliefs. It is against the scriptures, against the ethos of the Church of Ireland and my school. “It is insane that I will be led from this room to a place of imprisonment, but I will not give up my Christian beliefs.” Lawyers for the Church of Ireland school said it was with a “heavy heart” that it had been forced to take steps leading to Burke’s jailing after he breached the court order he secured last week. Earlier Burke, who was representing himself, had told the court he would return to the school, despite being arrested there on Monday. Judge Michael Quinn said he was ruling only on whether there had been a willful breach of the court order, which is intended to prevent disruption at the school at the start of the new term, rather than on Burke’s convictions. “I’m a teacher and I don’t want to go to jail. I want to be in my classroom today, that’s where I was this morning when I was arrested,” Burke said, defending. He said it was “extraordinary and reprehensible” that his religious beliefs could lead to his suspension from school. He added: “Being transgender is against my Christian beliefs. It is against the scriptures, against the ethos of the Church of Ireland and my school. “My religious beliefs are not bad behavior. It is not a serious offence. It never will be. They are dear to me. I will never deny them and I will never betray them, and I will never submit to a command that would require me to do so. It’s just not possible for me to do that,” he told the court. The school has stated that it complies with Ireland’s Equality Act 2000, not discriminating against any student and focusing on the welfare of its students. Burke will be back in court on Wednesday when the order is to be reviewed.
