‘An awful blow for free speech and Christian values’: School chaplain sacked for defending the right to question new LGBT policies loses unfair dismissal case
- The Reverend told pupils they were allowed to disagree with the measures
- He described losing his case as a ‘blow for free speech and Christian freedoms’
A school chaplain sacked for defending the right to question new LGBT policies has spoken of his fears for freedom of speech after losing an unfair dismissal case.
The Reverend Dr Bernard Randall told pupils they were allowed to disagree with the measures, particularly if they felt they ran contrary to Church of England principles.
But the school, Trent College in Nottingham, which has a long Anglican tradition, decided his sermon was harmful to pupils, secretly reported him to the anti-terrorism Prevent programme – which normally identifies those at risk of radicalisation – and later fired him.
Last night Dr Randall, 50, described losing his case as a ‘blow for free speech and Christian freedoms’.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘This is also a personal blow. We will appeal, so it takes up yet more of my life. But it is only one battle in the war to preserve free speech and the liberal values which built our country.
FIGHTER: Dr Randall said he will appeal verdict
Last night Dr Randall, 50, described losing his case as a ‘blow for free speech and Christian freedoms’.
‘There is a greater cause here, and I will carry on fighting as long as I am able. It is hard work being on the front line of the culture war, and it is costly. But we must not give up because of one setback.
‘I want our generation’s children and children’s children to grow up in a society where truth can be maintained over the ugly divisiveness of identity politics.’
After his dismissal he received a flood of support from parents, former pupils and members of the public. A retired archdeacon wrote: ‘You have been treated in a manner that is utterly contemptible. I thought your chapel address was gracious, thoughtful and entirely appropriate.’
But he received no backing from the Church of England hierarchy, whose silence was described as ‘appalling’ by campaigners last night.
Dr Randall’s sermon, delivered in the school chapel in June 2019, was prompted, he says, by pupils’ concerns about an organisation called Educate & Celebrate (E&C) run by Dr Elly Barnes, which was invited to ‘embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation into the fabric’ of the school and help ‘develop a whole-school LGBT+ inclusive curriculum’.
He said in his sermon: ‘You should no more be told you have to accept LGBT ideology, than you should be told you must be in favour of Brexit, or must be Muslim.’ But he stressed the ‘need to treat each other with respect’.
During staff training, Ms Barnes had encouraged staff to chant ‘smash heteronormativity’, which Dr Randall, a former Cambridge University chaplain and Oxford graduate, described as bizarre.
He said in his sermon: ‘You should no more be told you have to accept LGBT ideology, than you should be told you must be in favour of Brexit, or must be Muslim.’ But he stressed the ‘need to treat each other with respect’
But following a hearing at East Midlands Employment Tribunal, Judge Victoria Butler said this was ‘simply an enthusiastic attempt by Ms Barnes to warm up the teachers at the outset of the day’. Judge Butler noted that the Church of England cites E&C as a recognised ‘resource’.
During investigations by the school and the diocese, Dr Randall repeatedly raised that his beliefs on marriage and sexuality were based on CofE public liturgy, especially the Book of Common Prayer, and Canon law which states that marriage is ‘in its nature a union permanent and lifelong… of one man with one woman’.
However, Judge Butler suggested that Dr Randall had ‘misconceived’ what E&C is and that he had ‘an extreme reaction’ to their involvement within the school.
She said: ‘We saw and heard no evidence that came anywhere close to supporting the claimant’s view that E&C would indoctrinate pupils in such a way.’ She added the decision to refer Dr Randall to the terror watchdog was justified ‘from a safeguarding perspective’.
Dr Randall’s claims for unfair dismissal, discrimination, harassment and victimisation were all rejected.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre who backed Dr Randall’s case, said: ‘The message from this judgment to Christians is you cannot disagree or express disagreement with LGBT teaching – you must comply, celebrate and promote.’
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