Oxford professor rejects criticism on views

AN OXFORD professor facing calls for him to be removed has defended himself against allegations of homophobia.

More than 400 students have signed a petition claiming that John Finnis has “a long record of extremely discriminatory views”, including against members of the gay community.

The protest was sparked by an assertion in a paper, published in 1994 and reprinted in his collected essays in 2011, in which he said that homosexuality is “never a valid, humanly acceptable choice and form of life”.

The 78-year-old Roman Catholic, who is emeritus professor of law and legal philosophy at University College, rejected the criticisms, insisting that he had “absolutely” no hatred for homosexual people. Prof Finnis described the criticisms against him as “a mixture of muddle and misrepresentation”.

Asked if he felt any hatred towards homosexual people, he replied: “Absolutely not. I have friends and my family have friends. We benefit from them. They are good people and hatred is not on the scene.”

In 40 years of university life, he added that he had been welltreated by many friends and colleagues: “It’s a matter of personal pride for them and for me and a matter of professionalism for them and for me that we don’t discriminate in our attitudes, we don’t criticise people for their faith.”

Rejecting claims that his involvement in teaching at the university was discriminatory to people who would not feel comfortable attending his classes, he said that none of the courses he taught were compulsory.

“I’m no longer employed by the university, but I do teach at the invitation of the faculty in graduate seminars,” said Prof Finnis. “Noone has to do that course or go to the seminars that I do with colleagues in the law faculty.”