Irish teacher Enoch Burke, who did not want to refer to a non-binary student with gender-neutral pronouns, has been sent to the Mountjoy prison for contempt of court. .“It is insanity that I will be led from this courtroom to a place of incarceration, but I will not give up my Christian beliefs,” Burke told the Daily Mail on Monday. .Burke was arrested for breaching a court order not to teach or go to his Westmeath school. .Counsel for the school’s board of management said it was with a “heavy heart” it sought him being sent to prison, but she said her client had been left with no choice because he continued to breach the court order. .The dispute started when he refused to address a student changing gender with they/them/theirs pronouns rather than he/him/his. This request was made by the student, their parents, and the school. .This ordeal escalated to him being suspended on the day before the start of the fall term, pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation. .The court heard Burke refused to stay away from the school while he was suspended. He would sit in an empty classroom, declaring he could work. .Burke told Judge Michael Quinn he was proud to be a teacher and did not want to go to jail. The teacher said he loved being in the classroom and his students. .He said transgenderism is against his Christian beliefs. He described transgenderism as “contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland, and of my school.” .Burke said it is “extraordinary and reprehensible that someone's religious beliefs on this matter could ever be taken as grounds for an allegation of misconduct.”.“I will never deny them and never betray them, and I will never bow to an order that would require me to do so,” he said. .“It is just not possible for me to do that.”.This incident comes after the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) ruled in September a Gibsons restaurant staff discriminated against a non-binary, gender fluid person who uses they/them pronouns..READ MORE: Them wins! BC Human Rights tribunal fines restaurant $30K for using wrong gender pronouns.Former Buono Osteria server Jessie Nelson said bar manager Brian Gobelle referred to them with she/her/hers pronouns and with gendered nicknames like “sweetheart,” “honey,” and “pinky.”.Nelson said they should be compensated with $30,000, and the BCHRT agreed.
