Colonel (retired) Dr. Kelvin Wright, an Army doctor who served two tours in Afghanistan, has been cleared after he was investigated for sharing a Facebook post stating “men cannot be women” attributed to Dr Helen Joyce, author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality. Until his early retirement, Colonel Wright had served as commanding officer of 306 Hospital Support Regiment.
He had faced Major Administrative Action for sharing the post, a process with possible sanctions including a reduction in rank and formal censure. The Army’s final report has now concluded that his Facebook post was “clearly not unlawful” even though some would find it “disagreeable”.
In disclosures made to Dr. Wright, senior officers made disparaging comments about personnel who hold gender critical views, and even said that expressing a gender critical view was incompatible with holding a command position.
Dr. Wright is now making a formal Service Complaint to challenge discrimination and hostility within the Army towards service personnel with gender critical views.
Dr. Wright said:
I’ve been vindicated in my case, but the Army has a systemic problem where gender critical opinions are concerned. I want to ensure that nobody can be put through the type of process I’ve just endured.
I’m in a relatively privileged position where my ability to pay the bills doesn’t depend on my Army career. I’m fighting now for the rights of those in more precarious circumstances. The Army needs to attract all the talent it can; it can’t afford this blatant hostility to gender critical service personnel.
The case led to a public row with former Defence Secretary the Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP, who claimed the investigation into Dr Wright had “nothing to do with his views”. This claim can now be entirely refuted, as Dr Wright’s views directly triggered the complaint against him.
Colonel Wright felt the investigation into him was an unjustifiable attack on his honour, and resigned in protest, seeking the help of the Free Speech Union in May of this year.
A spokesman for the Free Speech Union said:
The complaint should never have been taken seriously. Now the Army has lost a first-rate officer who saved lives in Afghanistan.
We’ve seen from other cases how endemic this ideology is across the Armed Forces. Senior leaders need to get a grip, refocus the military on its core mission, and stop punishing personnel who refuse to accept the claims of trans rights activists.
We will continue to assist Dr. Wright and any other service personnel who fall foul of the military’s bizarre insistence on enforcing this dogma.
Dr Kelvin Wright VR FRCEM FRCS FIMC DipIMC MBBS PGCert Teaching, Colonel (Retired) L/RAMC served in the Army Reserve for 14 years, rising to the rank of Colonel as commanding officer of 306 Hospital Support Regiment.
During his reservist career he undertook two tours, serving in Afghanistan twice at the height of U.K. combat operations: firstly, on medical evacuation helicopters as part of a Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) in 2011-12, and latterly as the head of a military emergency department at the end of 2012. His record was unblemished until this complaint was made.
Dr. Wright works as an Intensive Care Specialist in the NHS, having had a 20-year career in emergency medicine and intensive care as a Consultant.
During the investigation, he was represented by a top employment barrister paid for by the Free Speech Union. Anyone interested in joining the FSU can do so here.
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Any right thinking person would have taken about a minute to come to the conclusion this hero was innocent. Our military establishment took 6 months during which time this highly trained, skilled and experienced officer resigned his commission and is now having to fight the system for redress. As always in cases like this, the process is the punishment. And heads should roll, but they won’t, they will close ranks and dodge responsibility. But hats off to Toby and the FSU for taking on his case and winning.
Excellent news. I wish him the best with his Formal Service Complaint.