600 Academicians Contest UK Government's Decision To Award Dr Kathleen Stock An OBE

In an open letter signed by about 600 academicians including prominent people from London School of Economics (LSE) and MIT contested the British government’s decision to bestow philosophy professor Dr Kathleen Stock with an OBE. In the letter, the academics alleged Stock of being transphobic. 

Stock has been vocal about her views on giving priority to ‘biological sex’ and has advocated that women should not be made to use the same toilets as transgender women. She has also criticised an LGBTQ charity organisation for campaigning to support “males who self-identify as women playing rugby thereby exposing fellow female players to potential neck-breaking and death.”

In the open letter, the academicians claimed that awarding Stock with an OBE is supporting ‘harmful rhetoric’ and ‘transphobic views’. The open letter also claimed that Professor Stock has not contributed with a ‘valuable scholarship’ and it accused her of ‘transphobic fearmongering’. 

In a tweet, Stock said that the letter is an attempt to ‘shut her up’. “They want me - and by extension others, including their own students - to stop talking about biological sex and its social importance, wherever it could make conceivable difference to a trans person (which in their view, is almost everywhere).”

Thread: When I accepted my OBE I did so in full knowledge there would be backlash from academic philosophers in my discipline, and here it is. The letter contains some basic errors about my view - but that's to be expected as their aim is not truth. https://t.co/Org30MZPZB

— Kathleen Stock (@Docstockk) January 6, 2021

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Stock has also debated against UK’s former Prime Minster Theresa May’s decision to make de-medicalise the process of acquiring the Gender Recognition Certificate. Stock is of the opinion that this can put women at risk. 

“We need to sort out female-based oppression first. If we don't, it will simply be transferred into whatever brave new world we're constructing,” she opined. 

“There's no reason why females should – as a sexist society regularly expects them to – be the only group to sacrifice their interests in favour of others,” she added. 

In tweet accepting the OBE, Stock wrote, “ Honoured to have been given OBE for services to higher education. I want to use this opportunity to draw further attention to suppression of critical thought about gender identity ideology and trans activism in UK Universities.” 

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