Doctor David Mackereth, 55, was fired from his position with the UK’s National Health Service, where he had worked as a doctor for 26 years, after being deemed ‘unfit to work.’
Mackereth was in the process of becoming a disability assessor for the Department for Work and Pensions and refused to refer to patients by their preferred gender, and instead used pronouns based on their biology. His instructor said that he must refer to the patient/client by the gender they identify as, which Mackereth disagreed to.
“I said that I had a problem with this. I believe that gender is defined by biology and genetics and that as a Christian the Bible teaches us that God made humans male or female. I could have kept my mouth shut but it was the right time to raise it,” Mackereth said.
“I’m not attacking the transgender movement but I am defending my right to freedom of speech, and freedom of belief. I don’t think 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.”
Mackereth received an email from Advanced Personnel Management, the agency that was employing him, saying that the Department for Work and Pensions are adamant that Mackereth refer to patients by the gender they identify as, “or it could be considered harassment as defined by the 2010 Equality Act.”
A spokeswoman for the DWP said;
“Dr Mackereth made it clear during his training that he would refuse to use pronouns which did not match his own view of a person’s biological gender. We expect all assessors to handle assessments sensitively and adhere to the Equality Act 2010.“
Mackereth responded, saying;
“Firstly, we are not allowed to say what we believe. Secondly, as my case shows, we are not allowed to think what we believe. Finally, we are not allowed to defend what we believe.”
