Nurse Jennifer Melle faces discipline for gendered reference to convicted paedophile

Jennifer Melle, a senior nurse at Epsom and St Helier University Hospital Trust in the UK, is fighting disciplinary action after refusing to use female pronouns for a convicted child sex offender known as 'Mr X'. The offender, currently in a male prison, was imprisoned for grooming boys while posing as a teenage girl online. Following her refusal, Melle reported facing racial abuse and threats but was instead given a final warning and referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council for allegedly breaching professional standards. NHS lawyers argued that her Christian belief regarding gender was 'not worthy of respect in a democratic society.' Melle has since been moved to another ward and removed from internal systems, prompting her to launch legal action against the Trust for harassment and discrimination. This case has emerged amid broader debates in the UK over gender identity policies in public institutions, highlighted by the recent Sullivan report on policing and gender self-identification.