Joshua Sutcliffe interview: I was told ‘call her a him’. I couldn’t go along with it

Although the misgendering incident took place in the summer term of 2017, it was not until November 2, 2017 that the pupil’s mother complained to the school. Sutcliffe was suspended 11 days later, after appearing on This Morning, and dismissed following a disciplinary hearing on January 31, 2018, which he did not attend. 

In September 2018, he joined St Aloysius College, Islington but resigned on November 2019 after two separate complaints about the PragerU “Make Men Masculine Again” You Tube video, which claims “children who grow up without a father are generally more depressed than their peers who have a mother and father”, “women want real men” and “passive men do not lead.” Sutcliffe admits referring pupils to the video but denies he showed it in a maths class.

Having been dismissed from one school and received complaints at another, could he be the problem, rather than the education system?

“Everything the students said in this case was taken as gospel,” he replies. “The teachers at large are scared and that’s including the TRA. No one knows what to do on the issue. I’d go as far as to say, don't affirm until 18. 

“It takes two years to get a gender recognition certificate. Often puberty is a good leveller for these feelings. What is in the best interests of the child? It’s a serious path to go down: drugs, surgery. You have this huge growth in children identifying as different things. I think health professionals, teachers and any responsible adult should approach with more caution.

“Teachers are under enough stress as it is. It’s a high pressure role, a lot is expected of you and you’re not paid an awful lot. And then they’ve got this to contend with, and a lot of teachers will just capitulate out of fear.

“But a lot of teachers, Christian and non-Christian, will no doubt have convictions that sex is immutable. That’s why the guidance is really needed.”

Having already been relentlessly trolled online and having received death threats, Sutcliffe knows he will receive more abuse for airing his views. “Someone said today on email: ‘You deserve to be out of the classroom’. They obviously dislike Christian teaching to the point that it should be blanket banned from everywhere in society, which I think is wrong. 

“It’s been tumultuous really, you don’t expect going into the teaching profession for this to happen. I’m a friendly, gentle kind of guy. I’ve got no personal vendetta against anyone. People are free. If my Christian position or disposition upsets people and that makes me homophobic then I suppose I am, but I have not got an agenda. It’s just that I ascribe to and speak of the Christian faith.”