A former emergency room doctor from the United Kingdom spoke out after standing up for his beliefs by refusing to use his patients’ preferred pronouns.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. David Mackereth, 60, recalled losing his job of 26 years in 2019 after he opposed using his patients’ hypothetical preferred pronouns during a training exercise.
“I told them as a Christian in good conscience, I couldn’t do that,” Mackereth explained.
As a result, this led to him being fired by his employer for “harassment,” claiming he violated the U.K. Equality Act 2010. The act “legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.”
However, Mackereth said this had nothing to do with discrimination, but honesty.
“If we are introducing a fundamental principle of dishonesty into medical practice… that has a very big impact on the quality of our health care,” he told Fox News Digital.
Following his dismissal, Mackereth filed a lawsuit against his former employer for “religious discrimination.”
BREAKING: A Christian doctor who was sacked by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for refusing to use hypothetical transgender pronouns has been vindicated by the General Medical Council (GMC) following a fitness to practise self-referral.
— Christian Concern (@CConcern) June 8, 2023
Dr David Mackereth had been a…
“He is a Christian who holds the following beliefs or lack of belief: (a) in the truth of Genesis 1:27, that a person cannot change their sex/gender at will and attempting to do so is pointless, self-destructive and sinful,” the lawsuit reads.
Ultimately, he lost his claim by the Employment Tribunal after the group ruled his Christian beliefs on gender identity were not compatible with “human dignity.”
“If Christianity isn’t protected by the Equality Act here in the United Kingdom, then surely the Equality Act is worthless,” Mackereth asserted.
In 2022, the verdict was partly overturned by the Employment Appeal Tribunal, according to the Christian Legal Centre, who defended him. Still, the Tribunal continued to hold to the belief that his firing was fair and upheld by the Court of Appeal.
“For a court to declare that Christianity was not illegal but wasn’t protected was more or less saying that Christianity was irrelevant to the modern world,” he added. “There’s still a lot of Christians around, and we’ve got an awful lot of history behind us.”
He then relayed his case to the General Medical Council (GMC), who sided with him.
“Although your views might be considered contentious, we haven’t seen evidence to suggest that patient safety is at risk from the information provided nor that your fitness to practise is impaired. It is clear that you have a strong view on this subject and we are informed this is deeply rooted in your religion,” the group said in a letter, via Christian Concern.
Continuing, the letter reads, “Doctors are of course entitled to their views and this in itself wouldn’t be an issue requiring any regulatory action to be taken by the GMC. This would only become an issue for us should there be information to indicate that these views impact patient safety and or care.”
Mackereth said he observed transgender ideology was clearly spread throughout the West and he refused to cower to it.
He shared:
“I don’t think there’s any doubt whatsoever with the influx of transgender ideology that is gripping the Western world, and it’s gripping the United Kingdom very large. It just seems to be in the United States. There’s no doubt that some ideologies are more equal than others, shall we say. It’s quite clear you can’t give everybody everything they want. But as a Christian doctor, I would put truth at the foundation of what I do. And it’s simply impossible for a person to change sex. So I can’t go along with that.”
Mackereth also addressed other Christians and medical professionals and urged them to not back down.
“I believe that the medical profession and perhaps Christian doctors in particular, have got to do what’s right. We’ve got to stand up because if we don’t stand up, if we simply hide and dodge the bullet, so to speak, then we’re going to be absolutely overwhelmed,” he said.
Additionally, Mackereth said he believed the solution was for us “to stand up, and we have to lovingly, kindly, graciously, gently affirm the truth that a person cannot change sex.”
He concluded, “And I believe that that is the duty of every Christian. It’s the only way forward for us.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, applauded Mackereth for his bravery and referred to him as a “Christian hero who chose to sacrifice his distinguished professional career rather than compromise on the Bible and his conscience,” per the Christian Concern.
