Randall said he became alarmed when staff were instructed during the training session to chant “smash heteronormativity,” and told that gender identity is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.  He says that when he raised concerns, he was told by the head teacher that he would be involved in any decision on whether the school would implement the Educate & Celebrate program, but he discovered at the following staff training day in January 2019 that it had already been adopted. 

A school chaplain lost his job at a Christian school and was reported to the government’s counter-terrorism watchdog, Prevent, after telling students they were not compelled to “accept an ideology they disagree with,” his lawyers say.

The Rev. Bernard Randall, 48, is taking Trent College to court for discrimination, harassment, victimization and unfair dismissal.

He says he preached a sermon on the biblical view of gender identity and same-sex relationships after being approached by students who were confused and upset by some of the material being taught in a new LGBT-inclusive curriculum at the school.

The curriculum was introduced at the independent school after a visit by Elly Barnes, founder of Educate & Celebrate, an LGBT education charity.

Barnes held training with staff on how they could “embed gender, gender identity and sexual orientation into the fabric of your school,” he says.

Randall said he became alarmed when staff were instructed during the training session to chant “smash heteronormativity,” and told that gender identity is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act.

He says that when he raised concerns, he was told by the head teacher that he would be involved in any decision on whether the school would implement the Educate & Celebrate program, but he discovered at the following staff training day in January 2019 that it had already been adopted.

When he asked why he had not been included in discussions, he says it was because he “might disagree.”

In a sermon called ‘Competing ideologies,’  Randall presented the Christian view on gender identity, encouraged debate and told the students, aged 11 to 17, that no characteristic in the Equality Act was more protected than another.

The following week, he was told that his sermon had hurt people’s feelings and that he was being suspended pending an investigation. He was also reported to Prevent, which deals with terrorism threats, and the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), the point of contact for child protection allegations.

In August 2019, he was informed by the school that he was being dismissed for gross misconduct.

Although his dismissal was overturned on appeal, he says he was forbidden from speaking on topics “likely to cause offense or distress to members of the school body,” and was told not to “publicly express beliefs in ways which exploit our pupils’ vulnerability.”

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