“It’s just not possible for someone to switch sexes. David Mackereth said, “So I can’t agree with that.”
A Christian doctor fired for refusing to use transgender names with patients says his case is not unique. He wants other medical workers and people of faith to “stand up” and “affirm truth” in fights over gender ideology.
In 2019, Dr. David Mackereth, who was 60 years old, lost his job as a doctor in an emergency room in the United Kingdom, where he had worked for 26 years. He didn’t want to use the chosen names of a made-up patient in a training practice.
Mackereth told Fox News Digital, “I told them that as a Christian with a clear conscience, I couldn’t do that.” His refusal led to him being fired in the end.
His boss told him that not using a patient’s chosen name was “harassment” under the U.K. Equality Act of 2010, so he was fired.
The doctor said that he would never treat a transgender patient differently than any other patient, but it was important to him, to be honest.
He told Fox News Digital, “If we introduce a fundamental principle of lying into medical practice, that has a very big effect on the quality of our health care.”
After he was fired, he sued his former boss for discrimination based on his religion. Three months later, the Employment Tribunal ruled against him. The Tribunal said his Bible-based ideas about how people should act were “incompatible with human dignity.”
Mackereth said, “If Christianity isn’t protected by the Equality Act here in the U.K., then the Equality Act is useless.”
The anti-discrimination rule says it will keep people from being bullied or mistreated because of their religion, gender identity, or other things.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal changed part of the ruling in May 2022, said the Christian Legal Centre, helping Mackereth. But the Tribunal still said he should have been fired, and the Court of Appeal agreed.
He told Fox News Digital, “For a court to say that Christianity wasn’t illegal but wasn’t protected was like saying that Christianity didn’t matter in the modern world.” “There are still a lot of Christians in the world, and we have a long history.”
Mackereth said that it was clear that transgender philosophy was common in the West but that it was still necessary to stand up to it.
“I don’t think there’s any question that transgender philosophy is taking over the Western world, and it’s especially taking over the United Kingdom. Just in the United States, it seems. There’s no question that some ways of thinking are more fair than others. It’s pretty obvious that you can’t give everyone what they want. But as a Christian doctor, I would base everything I do on the truth. And it’s impossible for someone to change their sex. I can’t agree with that, so I can’t,” he said.
According to the Christian Legal Center, the Employment Appeal Tribunal partly overturned the decision in May 2022, which is helping Mackereth. But the Tribunal still said that his firing was fair, and the Court of Appeal agreed.
“For a court to say that Christianity wasn’t illegal but also wasn’t protected was more or less saying that Christianity didn’t matter in the modern world,” he told Fox News Digital. “There are still a lot of Christians in the world, and we have a very long history.”
Even though Mackereth said it was clear that transgender philosophy was widespread in the West, he said it was important to stand up to it.
“I don’t think there’s any question at all that transgender philosophy is taking over the Western world, and it’s taking over the U.K. in a big way. It only seems to happen in the U.S. There is no question that some ideas are more fair than others. You can’t give everyone what they want. But as a Christian doctor, I would base what I do on the truth. And it’s just not possible for someone to change the sexes. “I can’t agree with that, so I can’t do it,” he said.
Mackereth took his case to the General Medical Council (GMC), an independent group that keeps a list of medical workers in the U.K. and sets standards for them. In a letter this week, the GMC seemed to agree with Mackereth. After looking at his case, the council decided that there was “no evidence to indicate” that he was not fit to practice or that his views were a threat to the safety of his patients.
He will keep trying and take his case to court in Europe.
The Christian law group helping the doctor says his case could be the first time a judge has forced someone to speak for their job. Mackereth said everyone should care about his case because it was about freedom of speech and whether or not a court can force an employee to use transgender names.
“My case isn’t about me alone. It’s about us all… “It looks like the law has been left unclear,” he said about the law in the U.K.
“But in the end, it’s all about forced speech. It’s about the right to speak freely. We shouldn’t be forced to use names for queer people. We think it’s dishonest to do that, and the law needs to be made clear,” he said.
Mackereth told other doctors, particularly Christians, to stand up for what they believe in. He said all Christians should “gently affirm the truth” about gender identity.
“I think that doctors, particularly Christian doctors, have to do the right thing. We have to stand up because if we don’t, if we hide and try to dodge the bullet, so to speak, we’ll be completely overrun. So it’s not just a matter of whether or not we can get through this. We must stand up and say that a person can’t change sex in a caring, kind, polite, and gentle way.
He also said that doing so was a Christian’s job.
“And I thin
k that’s what every Christian should do. This is the only way for us to move forward.”
