The UK government has fired a 55-year-old doctor after he refused to renounce his Christian faith, the Sunday Telegraph revealed.
Dr David Mackereth worked for 26 years as an NHS doctor but was sacked from his position as a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) disability assessor for refusing to identify patients with a gender contrary to their genetic and biological sex as established at birth.
“I’m not attacking the transgender movement,” Dr Macereth told the Telegraph. “But, I’m defending my right to freedom of speech, and freedom of belief.”
The father of four was reportedly deemed “unfit to work” after he said he would refuse to identify patients by their preferred gender pronoun.
“I don’t believe I should be compelled to use a specific pronoun. I am not setting out to upset anyone. But, if upsetting someone can lead to doctors being sacked then, as a society we have to examine where we are going.”
Dr Mackereth said he believed gender is defined by biology and genetics. A fact supported by Dr Mackereth’s Christian faith and the Bible, which “teaches us that God made humans male and female.”
A DWP spokeswoman said the Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate directly or indirectly against a person on the grounds of a “protected characteristic,” such as gender reassignment.
