Colonel 'forced out of Army' after stating 'men cannot be women'

[IwantToRetire]

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 JK 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.

“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?”

From a much longer Telegraph article reprinted by yahoo at Colonel 'forced out of Army' after stating 'men cannot be women' (yahoo.com) with info about his army career including a Hospital Support Regiment

Part of me thinks it's ridiculous he's in that situation, but the other part is cheering him on that he quit and went public about it.

Light is what is needed, too much goes on in the shadows.

I was a bit gob smacked that the Army sees to have also succumbed to these kangaroo trans court proceedings, especially in light of his career. ie as he says "even a colonel" is not safe from the TRA purity thought police.

I wonder what the Minstry of Defnce policy is, because if it sanctions the demotion of a member of the armed forces for having gender critical views, dont they know they are in breach of the law?

So the Army have lost an experienced intensive care consultant by chasing the rainbow. Like they just grow on trees. Well done, idiots.

Well done to him for quitting & sharing his story.
@KateJohns yep, spotlight, front & centre. Some of the mainstream media are doing great work & upping the ante majorly.

The good Telegraph readers are incandescent with rage. I am becoming more and more fond of them. They also blame the Tories for all this happening on their watch but also fear Labour would be worse and not even try to put the trans genie back in the bottle.

Clearly the Forstater ruling passed the Army by?

Bonkers.

Well the army seem to know exactly what a woman is when you read/hear about all the sexual assaults rapes amd bullying that goes on.

And the military still has rampant homophobia. But so much easier to purge an officer for wrong-thought than to do anything about that.

So the RAF have just been found guilty of positive discrimination (leading a woman resigning because she knew they were acting unlawfully) and now this. The forces need to get a grip.

Yes, a woman who had the moral courage to stand up for men who were being discriminated against. And despite that fact that she will almost certainly have experienced constant misogyny throughout her career. But she still stood up for men who were being treated unfairly.

I wonder where the Colonel works in the NHS. Because he is just as likely to be censured for his views there too especially if his hospital is signed up to the Rainbow badge scheme which is another outsourced Stonewall enforcement scheme.

The doubling down!

An Army spokesman said: “We are aware of a post shared by a service person to their own personal social media account which may have caused offence.

Can they not SEE what they're saying? That someone arguing that the right to state facts is important and her they are denying that right?

The lack of insight is shocking.

Surely constructive dismissal?

And I, and thousands of other women I'm sure, are offended at the misogyny of the Army but that doesn't ever seem to matter.

And we know, thanks to Mr Justice Knowles, that there is no right not to be offended. I wonder if the army knows that.

Surely surely, post-Forstater, and assuming there isn't a whole lot more to the story that's not being reported, this one will quickly go away? The Army doesn't have some special dispensation to ignore the Equality Act or something, does it?

This has got to be worth legal challenge, surely?

Who is the current secretary of defence? Do we know what his or her views on the gender woo are?

It does, I believe, in some circumstances, such as during conflict. But I doubt that would apply here, as it was in the UK and not during an operation (in the military, not medical, sense!).

Please tell me he's going to take legal action?

He is.

Yes, they have moved seamlessly from old style misogyny (sexual harassment/abuse/disadvantaging women) to new style (silencing and dehumanising). Not that old style has gone away, either, obviously.

This prompted a junior officer to warn him…

Ah the heady intoxicating power of being able to discipline an older, more senior person through the all powerful righteous morality ‘police’ that we see in the likes of SW etc. You will not be able to speak the truth.

Feels not so far off what happens in other countries that we disparage for their lack of human rights.

FSU are supporting him.

"He is being supported by the <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/o/5KGE5/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/16/launching-free-speech-union/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Free Speech Union, which has appointed an employment barrister to defend him, as the investigation is still ongoing"

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/29/colonel-forced-out-of-army-after-saying-men-cant-be-women/

That was supposed to say...

"He is being supported by the Free Speech Union which has appointed an employment barrister to defend him, as the investigation is still ongoing"

At the end it says it's an internal matter (link should be accessible). I can't recall the case (is it a social worker one?) but this reminds me of it. Where from reports, it seems as though someone had a good snoop on a private page, and would've gained access by pretending to be that person's friend. Stasi-style.

'Simply saying men can’t be women cost me my Army career’

digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/data/1383/reader/reader.html?social#!preferred/0/package/1383/pub/1383/page/5/article/NaN

"An Army spokesman said: “We are aware of a post shared by a service person to their own personal social media account which may have caused offence.

“We are not prepared to comment further as this is an ongoing internal matter.”"