Oxford transgender row teacher hearing extended

The misconduct hearing of a teacher accused of misgendering a transgender pupil and inappropriately sharing his Christian beliefs has been extended.

Joshua Sutcliffe is accused by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) of not using a pupil's preferred pronoun while at a school in Oxford in 2017.

The teacher was also dismissed from a London school in 2019 over a video he showed students about "false prophets".

Mr Sutcliffe denies charges of professional misconduct.

The tribunal was due to finish on Friday but has now adjourned to hear further evidence.

The maths teacher is further accused of breaching guidelines by expressing his views on gay marriage and homosexuality in the classroom.

The TRA also claimed he displayed "inappropriate behaviour" by showing pupils at the Islington school a YouTube video where he stated Muslims have a "false understanding of God".

The agency said comments he made about masculinity, such as the claim that "passive men do not protect or provide", were also inappropriate.

The agency alleges he said children who grow up without a father are more depressed than their peers and at "far greater risk of incarceration, teen pregnancy and poverty".

At Friday's hearing the panel heard from a theologian about the nature of Christian evangelism in relation to other religions.

The expert witness gave evidence after reviewing Mr Sutcliffe's YouTube video, where he suggests Muhammed and the founder of Mormonism Joseph Smith were both "false prophets".

He told the hearing: "This is essentially a sermon, what you would find in many churches.

"Jesus says there is only one way to God, all other people who claim to come after me will be false prophets.

"Islam holds exactly the same view in terms of other religions."

Michael Phillips, representing Mr Sutcliffe, asked what the Bible said about LGBT issues.

"The Bible does not single out LGBT, anything outside of marriage between a man and woman is sin," the expert said.

Mr Phillips sought for two further reports by experts to be considered by the panel.

"At the heart of this case is the allegation of misgendering," he said.

"You know the charge you're facing, from the TRA it comes from a belief it's the wrong thing to do, but we've had no evidence, aside from Pupil A saying that's what they wanted.

"We've had no legal guidance on that. How do you practically balance the rights and duties of a religious member of staff and the wants of a child?"

Andrew Cullen, for the TRA, said he was against the new reports being admitted, claiming they would be "confusing".

However, the panel ruled they contained "specialist knowledge" which would be submitted to a new case management hearing at a date to be decided.

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