A colonel has said he was forced to quit the Army after he was criticised for stating that “men cannot be women”. The Telegraph has the story.
Dr Kelvin Wright, 54, had been a Reservist commanding officer with 14 years’ unblemished service, including two tours in Afghanistan, before his “honour was attacked” with a transphobia complaint and an investigation he described as “hellish”.
In May, he shared a post on his private Facebook account from Fair Play for Women, a campaign group that works with governing bodies to preserve women’s sport for those born female, which consisted of a quote from Helen Joyce, a feminist campaigner backed by the author J.K. Rowling.
The quote, shared without any additional comment, said: “If women cannot stand in a public place and say ‘men cannot be women’, then we do not have women’s rights at all.”
This prompted a junior officer to warn him that his gender-critical views could be at odds with Ministry of Defence transgender policies, before what Dr. Wright calls the Army’s “LGBT champions” allegedly drew up a seven-page dossier about his “substandard behaviour” – which he was not allowed to see.
A formal Army investigation was opened in May that could have led to him being formally dismissed or censured under the Major Administrative Action process, through which he has been asked to make a statement.
Dr. Wright, who led a team of 60 troops in 306 Hospital Support Regiment alongside working as an NHS intensive care consultant, has this month felt forced to retire six years earlier than planned, slashing his total Army pension in the process.
He is being supported by the Free Speech Union, which has appointed an employment barrister to defend him, as the investigation is still ongoing.
Dr. Wright told the Telegraph:
This attack on my honour made my position completely untenable. I could no longer remain in an Army which treated its officers with such disrespect. What message does it send to women in the Army, that merely for noting the existence of women and women’s rights even a colonel can be placed under investigation? I therefore feel there is no other choice but to make this matter public. It makes you wonder who is running the Army: the Chief of the Defence Staff, or Stonewall?
Toby said:
The way in which Dr. Wright has been treated is absolutely disgraceful. The freedom to express your views in the public square is a fundamental human right that the British Army is supposed to be defending, not attacking. Continuing to hound him following his resignation just adds insult to injury. The Army should apologise, thank him for his service and close the case.
Worth reading in full.
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