Last year, Christian senior nurse Jennifer Melle, was summoned to a disciplinary hearing, given a final written warning, and referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Her offence? She referred to a convicted male paedophile as “Mr”.
The medical records of the convicted paedophile, who we will call “Mr X”, recorded that he was male. There was no reference to him being transgender, let alone female. Jennifer consulted these records in the presence of Mr X and then called a doctor. Speaking to the doctor, and not to Mr X, Jennifer told the doctor “Mr X would like to self-discharge.”
This prompted Mr X to scream: “Do not call me Mr! I am a woman!”
Once she got off the phone, Jennifer approached Mr X and politely explained: “I am sorry I cannot refer to you as her or she, as it’s against my faith and Christian values but I can call you by your name.”
Any reasonable person should agree with Jennifer. Mr X is biologically male. His gender was male on his medical records. In law he is male. He is a convicted paedophile. Out of sympathy for his victims, if nothing else, he should be referred to as male. The truth is that he is a man, and Jennifer is committed to speaking the truth. Her commitment to the truth is reinforced by her Christian faith. Who could possibly disagree?
It turns out that the NHS is now operating a policy of compelled speech. This amounts to enforced lying. If you won’t call a man a woman, and that man wants to be called a woman, you will be disciplined and face the prospect of losing your job and your career.
Christians, who in conscience will not lie, are going to run into problems when compelled to lie in this way.
There have been similar cases. Back in 2018, Dr David Mackereth, had his contract terminated as a medical assessor for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) because he said that in conscience he could not refer to someone who is obviously biologically male as if he was female. Dr Mackereth is a Christian who believes that gender is determined by biology and genetics. He also believes that God has created us “male and female” (Genesis 1:27). He wants to echo how God has gendered someone in his speech.
In Dr Mackereth’s case, the compelled speech was hypothetical. He was asked by his line manager: “If you have a man six foot tall with a beard who says he wants to be addressed as ‘she’ and ‘Mrs’, would you do that?” After Dr Mackereth said that in conscience he could not endorse a false gender conception, his contract was terminated.
Dr Mackereth took his case to the Employment Tribunal, supported by Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre. The Tribunal initially ruled that belief in Genesis 1:27 is “not worthy of respect in a democratic society” and is “incompatible with human dignity.” In the Employment Appeal Tribunal, this aspect of the judgment was overturned, ruling that Christian Biblical beliefs on gender are worthy of respect in a democratic society and are compatible with human dignity, and further that they are protected under the Equality Act. The judgment failed to vindicate Dr Mackereth, however, since it ruled that Christians cannot express these beliefs in the workplace without fear of losing their jobs.
In Jennifer’s case, we now see this worked out in practice. Even if the patient’s medical records state that they are male, and even if they are a convicted sex offender, you are still compelled to call him “her”. NHS Lawyers acting against Jennifer have even argued that her Christian beliefs that we are born male and female are “not worthy of respect in a democratic society”, directly contradicting Dr Mackereth’s EAT ruling.
So, this is where we stand in society now. The right of a convicted paedophile to lie about his gender trumps the right of a Christian to speak the truth about his gender. Christians who are committed in conscience to speak the truth, are discriminated against for the sake of upholding a lie.
Jennifer’s case is exacerbated by the fact that she was not only verbally abused by Mr X, but also allegedly racially abused. When Jennifer explained that calling Mr X ‘she’ he would go against her Christian values, Mr X yelled:
Imagine if I called you n*****? How about I call you n*****? Yes, black n*****!”
As Jennifer turned to walk away, she says, Mr X followed her and continued shouting abuse, before being restrained by the guards who feared an attack.
When another colleague, who is not black, also referred to Mr X as “he” later that evening, no further abuse followed. It appears that the discrimination here was focussed against Jennifer partly because of her faith and partly because of her ethnicity.
Jennifer was traumatised by the incident. When she communicated this to the ward manager, the ward manager was more concerned about Jennifer referring to Mr X as “he” than about the racial abuse she suffered. She was offered no support for the abuse she had reported.
Christians and others working in the NHS should not be compelled to lie about medical facts
It is astonishing that the NHS is siding with the paedophile and against Jennifer on this. The NHS has no sympathy for her Christian faith or for the racial abuse she suffered. The NHS is more intent on enforcing a lie than on allowing a senior Christian nurse to refer to a man according to his medical gender.
Enforcing lying discriminates against Christians who are committed to the truth. There are many Christians faithfully serving in the NHS. The NHS used to respect Christianity. By enforcing lying it has now become anti-Christian.
Jennifer Melle has now launched a legal case for discrimination against the NHS Trust with the support of Christian Concern. I very much hope the NHS sees sense and changes its policy. If she loses, I hope the government steps in and says “enough”. This nonsense has gone too far. Christians and others working in the NHS should not be compelled to lie about medical facts. Science and medicine depend on objective truth. It is totalitarian intolerance that enforces lying.
