A ROW has broken out at the University of Sussex after students called for a professor to be sacked amid accusations of transphobia.

A group of anonymous students are demanding Professor Kathleen Stock be removed from her position at the university.

Anti Terf Sussex's manifesto states: "Stock is one of this wretched island’s most prominent transphobes, espousing bastardised variation of 'radical feminism'.

"She has spent years campaigning for the exclusion of trans people from 'women’s only spaces,'" they added.

The Argus: An anonymous group of University of Sussex students are calling for a professor to fired over alleged transphobia.

In 2018 Prof Stock called for transgender women to be excluded from women’s changing rooms and any other places where they undress.

The professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, told The Argus women-only areas should not allow transgender people who still have male genitalia.

She said: “I am definitely not saying that trans women are particularly dangerous – they are definitely not.

“Most trans people are law abiding and wouldn’t dream of harming anyone.

“However, many trans women are still males with male genitalia, many are sexually attracted to females, and they should not be in places where females undress or sleep in a completely unrestricted way.”

The campaigning group's Instagram page antiterfsussex states that they are "an unaffiliated network of queer and trans students, committed to showing unity + resistance in the face of Sussex uni's employment of Kathleen Stock".

As one of the UK’s leading gender-critical feminists, who has insisted that a person cannot change their biological sex, Prof Stock has faced huge amounts of criticism and abuse over the years – with blogs, petitions and Twitter users regularly demanding her dismissal for her allegedly “transphobic” views.

A Twitter hashtag is now trending across the UK calling on the university to protect Professor Stock from the group, branding the manifesto a "declaration of woman-hating".

Jean Hatchet tweeted: "A declaration of woman-hating. That woman is Kathleen Stock and she is your employee. A respected academic and author with an OBE. Act swiftly. Women are watching out for her and hoping for her safety. Why aren’t you? @SussexUni #ShameOnSussexUni"

Another user said: "I see #ShameOnSussexUni is trending. Calling someone out for their hatred of a minority it not harassment or bullying."

The hashtag currently has around 7,000 tweets from both supporters and adversaries of Professor Stock.

Prof Stock told Times Higher Education in 2020: “It is quite a strange situation to work somewhere where people make it clear that they loathe you,

“I’ve found it quite a hostile environment – [some] have claimed my position is bigoted and I should be sacked."

A University of Sussex spokesman said: “We were extremely concerned to see the harassment towards our staff member and took immediate action in response to this, which we continue to do.

“We are deeply committed to being a safe and inclusive university, which values and advances equality and diversity, seeks to resolve conflicts, advances good relations and upholds lawful free speech.

“As a university community, we must be able to have complex discussions without bullying or harassment. We will always take swift action when this occurs.

“Our role as a university is to facilitate such conversations to advance shared understanding and common agreement. We insist that these are carried out respectfully and are always protective of our staff and students.”

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