“The arguments referencing the risk of homosexuality and abortion may well be welcome and normal within the context of [his] private life and views. However they are disgraceful when used in the present context. The balance of [the teacher’s] arguments are borne from unrealistic hysteria and we need not go into them further.”
Brutal. Good on them for sending such a strong message about their low opinion of bigoted teachers.
The teacher’s submissions read: "I have been accused of serious misconduct and deny this charge.
“On the contrary, I believe I would be guilty of serious misconduct and child abuse if I was to call the girl… in my year 10 class by a boy’s name as I was compelled to do.”
The teacher’s lengthy submissions went on to quote the Bible, and make a number of other references to religion.
He also pointed out the conditions required in New Zealand for a person to legally change their name.
“Compelling me to call a girl student by a boy’s name is asking me to go against my core Christian belief, the belief that is also foundational for New Zealand,” the teacher’s submissions read.
Wow. I bet this isn’t the first problem they’ve had with this teacher.
the student suggested a compromise: that the teacher use his preferred name, but could use the pronouns she/her.
It’s fucked up the student felt like he had to compromise at all, but then “[the teacher] refused to agree to this and said that ‘he didn’t want [the student] to go down the path of sin’ or words to that effect”. I’m glad they cancelled his registration. Poor kid.
This is one case when the title really undersells the story.
I am also drawn to this comment like a shark to blood:
He also pointed out the conditions required in New Zealand for a person to legally change their name.
They don’t say what he thinks the requirement are, but I’ve worked with someone who is likely to be the foremost expert on names in NZ (not close enough that they would know my name, though). Legally changing your name is as easy as starting to use the new one. If it’s not done in an attempt at identity theft or fraud, and you actually use the name as your own, you have assumed the new name and “legally” it is yours.
The tricky bit is proving your new name to organisations. The bank won’t take your word for it, so you need proof. They will ask for a birth certificate or passport, etc, to prove your name. So there is a process needed to change your name on your birth certificate, which is probably what they are referring to.
Do I expect anyone to know or care about this distinction? No, unless you’re claiming to know the legal details of changing your name.
Like a shark to blood…
(Do I have proof of any of this? No, I can’t work it out in the legislation. Maybe it’s common law? I don’t know, take with a grain of salt).
The fact is, if being trans isn’t a legally valid reason to change your name, then the law is the problem. And what the law says isn’t relevant anyway. It has nothing to do with what a teacher can call their student.
Absolutely, I was just rambling about his lack of knowledge about legal name changes despite claiming to know.
Nah you’re correct, this is the advice my lawyer gave me about name changes.
Where in the bible does it say “thou shalt not refer to a girl with a boy’s name” exactly?
Poor kid being forced into a compromise like that, I can’t even imagine how belittled they felt.
Indeed, well done. No tolerance to harmful bigotry. Religious beliefs are no excuse for being an appalling human being.
If your religious beliefs conflict with the duties of your job then get another job. Or at the very least try to keep your bigotry secret. It’s not rocket science.
This is a really good example of what is being discussed in the other post about posting clickbait articles. The title from the 1news article I really misrepresents what happened, it was a lot more than pronouns that got the teacher deregistered. I know it’s the current convention, but reusing their title here spreads the misconception further.
So what else was it?
Refreshing to see people actually standing up to these types
Yeah it must have been a hard decision for the school since teachers are so short right now. good to see they stand by what they say.
At this meeting, the student suggested a compromise: that the teacher use his preferred name, but could use the pronouns she/her.
Kid clearly being the grownup here… But also shouldn’t have had to make this compromise.
