Minister voices support for Sussex professor embroiled in gender row
The minister of state for levelling up & equalities Kemi Badenoch has expressed support for University of Sussex Professor Kathleen Stock.
Professor Stock, who teaches philosophy, is facing calls to be removed from her post over her views on gender identification.
The Conservative MP for Saffron Walden said via Twitter:
As a @SussexUni alumna, I’m pleased to see this support for Professor Stock. No one should face harassment in the workplace. Robust academic debate is a hallmark of a civilised society. Hounding people out of a job because you disagree with them, is not. https://t.co/DvXYK1sFnl
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) October 8, 2021
Professor Stock tweeted on Thursday: “If you work where I do, and you know what’s happening to me at the moment (which I’ll discuss at [a] later date), this is the time to say something about it. Not for me, but for you. What kind of future does a university have where intimidation determines what is said or taught?”
She explained her views on gender identity issues in written evidence to Parliament in November 2020.
She said she believes that trans women are not biological women; and that sexual orientation is determined by same-sex attraction rather than attraction to gender identity.
In 2018 she said there must be a ban on transgender women in women’s changing rooms, as “many trans women are still males with male genitalia”.
