Watch: Family of jailed teacher who refused to use trans pronouns thrown out of Washington gala
Credit: X/@SeanDefoe
The family of a teacher who refuses to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns were forcibly removed from a Washington DC gala they gatecrashed to confront Ireland's prime minister.
Security led away three members of the Burke family after they burst onto the floor of the Ireland Funds dinner, which was attended by Taoiseach Micheal Martin, to protest the teachers' imprisonment.
Enoch Burke was jailed for a third time in Ireland in September for breaching a court order to stay away from Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath where he once taught.
The evangelical Christian has spent more than 500 days in jail over three separate stints for contempt, and been fined, after repeatedly breaching the injunction.
Footage from Thursday night shows Burke's mother Martina and two of his siblings – Ammi and Isaac – shouting as they are dragged away by security.
Mr Martin had finished speaking 15 minutes before the family crashed the gala, an annual event in the US capital ahead of St Patrick's Day.
Elon Musk, Donald Trump's close ally, shared his support for Burke on social media.
'My belief is male and female, God made them male and female,' Burke told the court last year.
He also claimed teachers were being 'commanded to force transgenderism on students'.
Burke, who teaches German and history, was outraged after being told to call a transitioning student by their preferred name and the pronoun 'they'.
Despite his suspension, he would turn up at the school for 'meetings' or simply to sit in an empty classroom declaring he was ready to teach, which led to an injunction being sought and granted.
Burke is still being paid his salary after he appealed the school's decision to sack him in January 2023.
This month Court Justice David Nolan gave the Attorney General permission to bring an application later this month to appoint a receiver over Burke's teaching salary, to deduct the outstanding €79,100 he owes in fines.
On March 8, Mr Musk wrote 'wow' as he retweeted a post that falsely claimed Burke was being 'stripped of his salary after refusing to use they/them pronouns for a 'transgender' student'.
Mr Martin said it had been 'regrettable' that the Burke family disrupted the gala dinner, but said he did not think it 'significantly' impacted the event.
'I think it was regrettable that incident happened,' he said.
'People have a right to protest in a proper way and that is not a proper way to attempt to maybe disrupt an event that was to honour people who have been of such service to Ireland in the US and people of the Irish-American diaspora who really are not involved in anything to do with this issue.'
Mr Martin said he had been 'very clear, in respect to the rights of transgender people'.
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