Crazy Island is in the news again

British doctor fired for refusing to identify a six-foot-tall bearded man as ‘madam’

By Emma R. 15 July 2019



Dr David Mackereth, 56, claims he was sacked as a disability benefits assessor by the Department of Work and Pensions over his religious beliefs.
Allegedly he was asked in a conversation with a line 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?”

Dr Mackereth, says his contract was then terminated over his refusal to use transgendered pronouns.

The doctor is now suing the government at an employment tribunal for discrimination on the grounds of his religious belief.

A hearing in Birmingham was told how Dr Mackereth believes transgenderism is a “delusional belief” and an ideology “which I disbelieve and detest”.

The trained theologian, who has 30 years’ medical experience, secured a job as a Health and Disability Assessor at Birmingham’s Giveaways assessment centre in May 2018.

He told the tribunal he was suspended the following month after being “interrogated” by his boss, James Owen, for refusing to “call any six-foot-tall bearded man ‘madam’ on his whim”.

The medic claims he was told he was “overwhelmingly likely” to lose his job unless he agreed.

He insists he did not resign his position and is the victim of direct discrimination and harassment.

Dr Mackereth told the hearing: “The very fact a doctor can be pulled of 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.”

APM, the recruitment company who hired the medic, is also being sued for religious discrimination.

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

In a statement put before the court, Dr Mackereth said: “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.”

He added: “I am, of course, aware that there are men or women who believe they have been trapped in a wrong body, and I do not question the sincerity of their convictions.”

“A small number of such people have always existed. Up until recently, such a belief was considered by medics to be delusional and a symptom of a medical disorder.”

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

The legal case is listed until next week.

The hearing continues.

https://voiceofeurope.com/2019/07/br...WB2mEALdViK2tk