DUDLEY, England — A Christian doctor in the U.K. has been prohibited from serving as a disability assessor after informing the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that he could not conform to their requirement that he refer to clients both in communication and in paperwork by their gender identity.
Dr. David Mackereth, 55, has worked as an emergency room doctor for the National Health Service (NHS) for 26 years, and recently sought to serve as a disability assessor for the DWP. His job would have entailed interviewing those who desired to obtain disability benefits and submitting reports about their health.
Mackereth enrolled in a training course in May, and all seemed to be fine—that is, until his instructor advised that assessors must refer to clients by their gender identity. Some doctors began discussing the idea that gender is “fluid,” The Telegraph reports.
“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,” he told The Daily Mail. “I could have kept my mouth shut, but it was the right time to raise it.”
Mackereth’s instructor then advised the DWP of the doctor’s convictions, and he soon received an email from the employment firm APM outlining that the DWP requires that he refer to those with gender dysphoria by their preferred identification or it “could be considered harassment as defined by the 2010 Equality Act.”
After responding that he could not do so “in good conscience,” Mackereth’s contract was discontinued, thus ending his pursuit of a job as a disability assessor.
“I don’t think I should be compelled to use a specific pronoun,” he told The Daily Mail. “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.”
“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,” Mackereth lamented.
The DWP confirmed the requirement and that Mackereth would not comply with it.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
The late British preacher Charles Spurgeon, who often proclaimed the gospel in the public streets, once noted that man, in all his brokenness, is incapable of helping or changing himself and his only hope is to throw himself upon Christ.
“God be thanked when the Law so works as to take off the sinner from all confidence in himself! To make the leper confess that he is incurable is going a great way toward compelling him to go to that divine Savior, who alone is able to heal him,” he said. “This is the whole end of the Law toward men whom God will save.”
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