Trans row put me off British universities, says Prof Stock

THE professor at the centre of a row with trans activists has said she has no desire to return to British academia because every university has “people like those at Sussex”.

Prof Kathleen Stock, an expert in analytic philosophy, quit Sussex University last month after facing death threats and accusations of transphobia.

She has since announced that she will become a founding fellow at the University of Austin, a new “anti-cancel culture” university that welcomes academics who have been treated like “thought criminals”.

Prof Stock revealed that she had no plans to return to a British university, since they all have “people like those at Sussex, who’ve got a light in their eyes, who want social justice according to a very narrow conception that does not involve employing me”.

She said she intends to write another book and also devote time to parenting, as her wife is expecting a baby girl in February.

Prof Stock, who denies all allegations of transphobia, published a book earlier this year questioning the idea that gender identity is more “socially significant” than biological sex.

She has questioned the idea that men who identify as women should have automatic access to women-only facilities, or be allowed to appear on womenonly shortlists or sports teams.

Last month, a group calling itself “Anti-terf Sussex” described Prof Stock online as “one of this wretched island’s most prominent transphobes, espousing a bastardised variation of radical feminism”.

Terf, which stands for trans exclusionary radical feminist, is used as a derogatory term to describe those who

‘Most UK universities want social justice according to a very narrow conception that does not involve me’

believe that “identifying” as a woman is not the same as being born a woman.

Speaking about her experience at Sussex, she told The Times: “It’s been very, very challenging. I’ve been low. But also it’s given me a sense of purpose... I do feel I’ve made a difference to a lot of women. I feel proud of that.”

She also said that she made up her mind to quit Sussex after the University and College Union published a statement backing the pro-transgender students.