Kathleen Stock

[[File:Kathleen Stock on Rebel Wisdom.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Stock interviewed in 2021]]
{{gender}}
{{cquote|It is essential for the [[think of the children|safeguarding of our children]] that life-changing decisions such as embarking on gender realignment are carefully interrogated. Organisations like Stonewall tend to amplify the myth that “gender identity” is permanent and innate, even when it is at odds with your biological sex. Yet identity claims come and go, and there are a range of background factors relevant to whether or not a child might temporarily reject their biological sex. These include [[ableism|autism]], same-sex attraction, a history of trauma, time spent in the care system, a girl's discomfort at impending sexual maturity, or simply [[Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria|being in the grip of a social media fashion]]. |||Kathleen Stock defending [[conversion therapy]] with pseudoscience and [[ableism]]<ref name="stock2">Kathleen Stock, "[https://archive.ph/SpJUf It's children who will pay for this surrender to the Stonewall trans agenda]", The Telegraph, 16 January 2023</ref>}}
'''Kathleen Stock''' is a [[British]] philosopher, writer, and self-admitted "[[Crank|contrarian]], both by temperament and training."<ref>"[https://archive.ph/czOyC About me]" page from Kathleen Stock's Substack blog</ref> She taught philosophy at the University of Sussex for many years, rising to prominence – and controversy – in the late 2010s, mainly for her "[[gender-critical]]" punditry.

==Background==
Kathleen Mary Linn Stock was born in [[Scotland]] in November 1972 to English academics who worked at Aberdeen University.<ref name="turner1">Janice Turner, "[https://archive.ph/oP1AT Professor Kathleen Stock and the toxic gender debate]", The Times, 19 November 2021</ref><ref name="moorhead">Joanna Moorhead, "[https://archive.ph/49E4h Kathleen Stock: taboo around gender identity has chilling effect on academics]", The Guardian, 22 May 2021</ref><ref>Birth month from the government record of the {{w|British Society of Aesthetics}} organisation that Stock served as a director of from 1999 to 2010.</ref> After studying French and philosophy at Exeter College, Oxford, she received a Master of Arts from the University of St Andrews, followed by a PhD in philosophy from the University of Leeds.<ref name="turner1" /><ref name="moorhead" /> 

At the age of 25, Stock married her long-time boyfriend, eventually having two children with him.<ref name="turner1" /> The marriage dissolved when Stock was 39, and she subsequently came out as [[lesbian]].<ref name="turner1" /> She now lives with her wife in Sussex.<ref name="turner1" />

==Down the anti-trans rabbit hole==
===Writings and media presence===
Stock's academic credentials are in the field of [[philosophy]]. Her published work prior to joining the gender-critical bandwagon dealt with [[literature]], [[music]], and [[aesthetics]]. That hasn't stopped her from [[ultracrepidarianism|writing extensively about, and presenting herself as an authority on,]] trans people, trans healthcare, and the current [[scientific consensus]] on sex and gender. Since 2018, her [[TERF]] musings have been given space in British newspapers, including ''[[The Economist]]'',<ref>Kathleen Stock, "[https://archive.ph/48fTN Changing the concept of 'woman' will cause unintended harms]", The Economist, 6 July 2018</ref> ''[[The Telegraph]]'',<ref>Kathleen Stock, "[https://archive.ph/rLsel Toddlers transitioning, male rapists in women's prisons: this is the book you need to read about trans activism]", The Telegraph, 18 July 2021</ref> and ''[[Daily Mail|The Daily Fail]]''.<ref>Kathleen Stock, "[https://archive.ph/qKJQx It wasn't just the students spreading lies and hounding me...]", Daily Mail, 6 November 2021</ref> 

In an article in the journal ''Women's History Review'', Deborah Shaw noted the rarity of Stock's rise to [[celebrity]] academic, a status typically achieved through breakthroughs in the "realms of [[science]], the [[environment]] or health."<ref name="shaw1">Deborah Shaw, "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09612025.2022.2147915 A tale of two feminisms: gender critical feminism, trans inclusive feminism and the case of Kathleen Stock]", ''Women's History Review'', 31 (7)</ref> However, Shaw concludes that Stock has uniquely emerged as a "[[cult of personality|totemic figure]] for a trans-hostile media", fitting into a "pre-existing trans-hostile right-wing media narrative" hungry for "[[Freedom of speech|free-speech]] martyrs."<ref name="shaw1" /> Shaw found that in 2021 alone there were a staggering 78 stories about Stock published in the ''Telegraph'' and 40 stories in ''The Daily Mail''.<ref name="shaw1" /> This reflects a wider trend in the British media, with coverage of trans issues growing 400% between 2009 to 2019, according to an IPSO report.<ref name="shaw1" /><ref name="ipso1">Vikki Julian, "[https://www.ipso.co.uk/news-press-releases/press-releases/new-research-on-reporting-of-trans-issues-shows-400-increase-in-coverage-and-varying-perceptions-on-broader-editorial-standards/ New research on reporting of trans issues shows 400% increase in coverage and varying perceptions on broader editorial standards]", Independent Press Standards Organisation, 12 February 2020</ref> The British press has drawn international attention for its toxic and pervasive fixation on trans people since at least 2018.<ref name="miller1">Edie Miller, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20181106014350/https://theoutline.com/post/6536/british-feminists-media-transphobic Why is British media so transphobic?]", The Outline, 5 November 2018</ref><ref name="jacques>Juliet Jacques, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20200309051008/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/opinion/britain-transphobia-labour-party.html Transphobia Is Everywhere in Britain]", The New York Times, 9 March 2020</ref><ref name="lewis1">Sophie Lewis, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20190208000645/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/opinion/terf-trans-women-britain.html How British Feminism Became Anti-Trans]", The New York Times, 7 February 2019</ref><ref name="ewens1">Hannah Ewens, "[https://www.vice.com/en/article/889qe5/trans-rights-uk-debate-terfs Inside the Great British TERF War]", Vice, 16 June 2020</ref><ref name="johns">Tara Johns, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20211009082052/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/09/uk/uk-trans-rights-gender-critical-media-intl-gbr-cmd/index.html Anti-trans rhetoric is rife in the British media. Little is being done to extinguish the flames]", CNN, 9 October 2021</ref>

====Material Girls====
In 2021, Stock released the book ''Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism'', billed by its publisher as a "timely and trenchant critique" of the "influential theory" of [[gender identity]].<ref>"[https://archive.ph/xJqiZ Material Girls]" description on the Hachette UK website</ref> The book was lavished with praise by the UK press, earning rave reviews from ''[[The Times]]'',<ref>Christina Patterson, "[https://archive.ph/2LRJC Material Girls by Kathleen Stock, review — a controversial look at transgender issues]", The Times, 25 April 2021</ref><ref>Emma Duncan, "[https://archive.ph/2gABE Material Girls by Kathleen Stock review — the ideas that frighten the trans bullies]", The Times, 4 December 2021</ref> ''The Evening Standard'',<ref>Stella O'Malley, "[https://archive.ph/CdiNE Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism by Kathleen Stock review]", Evening Standard, 27 April 2021</ref> ''[[The Telegraph]]'',<ref name="ogrady1">Jane O'Grady, "[https://archive.is/cOk7u If biological sex is a myth, so is evolution]", The Telegraph, 30 April 2021</ref> and ''[[The Spectator]]''.<ref name="bindel1">[[Julie Bindel]], "[https://archive.is/OZtCY The gender identity issue: Kathleen Stock puts her head above the parapet]", The Spectator, 15 May 2021</ref> It managed to find its way to number 13 in the UK non-fiction charts.<ref name="perry">Louise Perry, "[https://archive.is/Kn43M It’s still possible to “cancel” gender-critical feminists, but this strategy won’t work]", New Statesman, 28 July 2021</ref> Nonetheless, Stock seems to have been dissatisfied with its sales figures, demanding that booksellers "start showing some mettle" by putting her "reasonable and warmly reviewed book" on display.<ref name="c-turner2">Camilla Turner, "[https://archive.ph/DvWLb Professor at centre of transgender row asks bookshop to 'show some mettle' and display her work], The Telegraph, 14 October 2021</ref><ref>Eleni Courea & Nicola Woolcock, "[https://archive.ph/TOqfa Bookshops are scared to display my work, claims trans row author Kathleen Stock]", The Times, 15 October 2021</ref>

The central thesis of ''Material Girls'', as outlined by Deborah Shaw in ''Women's History Review'', is that trans people&nbsp;– particularly trans women&nbsp;– are "immersed in a fiction" that ruins lives and damages society.<ref name="shaw1" /> In Shaw's view, the characterization of gender identity as an "immersive fiction" by Stock in the book serves to "[[gaslighting|deny the realities, theories or lived experiences of trans women]]."<ref name="shaw1" /> As evidence of the alleged dangers of the trans fiction, Stock has offered a litany of "[[concern trolling|gender critical moral panic greatest hits]]," all of which "[[demonization|code trans women as predatory, deceptive and delusional men]]":<ref name="shaw1" />

{{quotebox|At the other end of this particular story arc (that of the immersive fantasy) are unhappily infertile young adults; women prisoners made to share facilities with male [[rapists]]; sportswomen crowded out of competition by men they can’t hope to beat; young lesbians guilted into dating males; wives being coerced into participation in the [[autogynephilia|cross-dressing fantasies of their husbands]].}}

Adam Briggle, academic philosopher and father of a trans son, echoed Shaw's criticism in a review of ''Material Girls'' for the journal ''Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective'': "This is a motif for Stock: [[Cherry picking|point to a handful of problematic cases]] and [[biological determinism|blend them with sexual dimorphism]] to derive a sweeping trans-exclusionary policy recommendation."<ref name="briggle1">Adam Briggle, "[https://social-epistemology.com/2021/11/24/which-reality-whose-truth-a-review-kathleen-stocks-material-girls-why-reality-matters-for-feminism-adam-briggle/ Which Reality? Whose Truth? A Review Kathleen Stock's Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism]", ''Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective'', 10 (11): 52-59</ref> He argued that Stock's model of sex divides humanity into the rigid "categories WOMAN and MAN (capitalized by her to indicate that these are concepts and not the entities they refer to)" that are unaltered by "inner feelings of gender identity" due to being "rooted in biological sexual dimorphism." However, behind the seeming weight of these "concepts in CAPITALS" and "facts about sexual dimorphism," Briggle saw Stock's "political prescriptions" as ultimately boiling down to "judgments about balancing harms," in which she invariably shows that "she doesn't think protecting the safety and dignity of transgender people outweighs the 'potential costs' of altering the social norm."<ref name="briggle1" /> In nearly "every instance in the book", Briggle found that Stock presents trans women as "deceivers, rapists, and violent offenders," giving real trans women "all the weight of a feather" against the "great tonnage of mostly conjectural male pretenders on the other side of the scale."<ref name="briggle1" />

In a double review of ''Material Girls'' and [[Helen Joyce]]'s ''Trans'' for the blog Critical Legal Thinking, law professor Alex Sharpe commented that both books "set themselves against trans rights activism" and thus "advance broader toxic politics that embolden the [[Christian right]], free-speech absolutism, and government attacks on higher education."<ref name="sharpe">Alex Sharpe, "[https://criticallegalthinking.com/2021/10/08/review-of-helen-joyces-trans-when-ideology-meets-reality-london-oneworld-2021-pp-311-rp-16-99-and-kathleen-stocks-material-girls-why-reality-matters-for-feminism-london-fle/ Review of Helen Joyce’s Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality (London: Oneworld, 2021) pp 311 RP: £16.99; and Kathleen Stock’s Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism (London: Fleet, 2021) pp 312 RP: £16.99.]", Critical Legal Thinking, 8 October 2021</ref> Sharpe deemed ''Material Girls'' to be the stronger of the two titles, highlighting the contrast between Stock's "forensic, [[Jesuit]]-like" writing style and Joyce's "zealous, [[born again]]" voice, but found both authors united in "their mission to slay 'sacred cows.'"<ref name="sharpe" /> She concurred with Shaw and Briggle in finding that Stock argues for trans-exclusionary policies "not by providing credible evidence of harm," but through assuming trans women to be a "risk on the basis, presumably, of gendered forms of socialisation and biological drives."<ref name="sharpe" />

===Other activism===
In 2019, Stock endorsed the WHRC's "[[LGB Alliance#Transphobia|Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights]]," making her one of its earliest signatories.<ref name="parsons1">Vic Parsons, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/10/14/universities-union-backs-trans-rights-in-row-over-anti-trans-professor-kathleen-stock/ Universities union backs trans rights in row over anti-trans professor Kathleen Stock]", Pink News, 14 October 2021</ref><ref name="moore">Rowan Moore, "[https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/how-to-have-a-fair-discussion-about-transgender-rights%EF%BF%BC How to have a fair discussion about transgender rights]", Prospect Magazine, 8 September 2022</ref> The Declaration calls for the "elimination" of the "practice of transgenderism."<ref name="parsons2">Vic Parsons, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/01/27/womens-human-rights-campaign-gender-recognition-act-inquiry-trans-transphobia/ MPs urged by anti-trans ‘women’s rights’ group to eliminate ‘transgenderism’ and scrap Gender Recognition Act]", Pink News, 27 January 2021</ref><ref name="montgomerie"> Katy Montogomerie, "[https://katymontgomerie.medium.com/addressing-a-defense-of-wdis-call-to-eliminate-the-practice-of-transgenderism-b465ca80047b Addressing A Defense Of WDI's Call To 'Eliminate The Practice Of Transgenderism']", 11 March 2022</ref> Many unsurprisingly find rhetoric calling for the "elimination" of a minority group to be [[genocide|deeply disturbing]].<ref name="montgomerie" />

Stock submitted written evidence to the {{w|Gender Reform Act}} consultation in January 2021 along with law professor {{w|Rosa Freedman}} and sociology professor Alice Sullivan.<ref name="terfiles1">TERFiles, "[https://terfiles.medium.com/academics-anti-transgender-submission-to-parliament-plagiarised-368f1bb7221 Academics’ anti-transgender submission to Parliament plagiarised?]", 3 February 2021</ref> This submission relied heavily on the so-called "[[TERF glossary#Swedish study|Swedish study]]," a 2011 paper that has been widely misrepresented by TERFs to push an anti-trans agenda, much to the frustration of its lead author.<ref name="terfiles1" /><ref name="williams">Cristan Williams, "[https://www.transadvocate.com/fact-check-study-shows-transition-makes-trans-people-suicidal_n_15483.htm Fact Check: Study Shows Transition Makes Trans People Suicidal]", TransAdvocate</ref> Christa Peterson, a PhD student at the University of Southern California, noted that parts of the submission's text appeared to be [[plagiarism|borrowed]] from another source.<ref name="terfiles1" />

In May 2021, Stock was appointed as a trustee of the {{w|55 Tufton Street}}-run [[astroturf]] group [[LGB Alliance]],<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20211023154115/https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/5154625/trustees LGB Alliance]", Charity Commission of England and Wales, archived 23 October 2021</ref> but was no longer listed among the trustees by early 2023.<ref>"[https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/5154625/trustees LGB Alliance]", Charity Commission of England and Wales, accessed 16 January 2023</ref> Stock founded a [[lesbian]] advocacy group called the Lesbian Project with [[Julie Bindel]]<ref group="note">Bindel, in contrast to both Stock and Navratilova, is a self-admitted [[political lesbian]], calling for heterosexual women to "[https://archive.is/1VCcT embrace political lesbianism]" as a [[feminist]] rejection of male oppression.</ref> and tennis champ-turned-arch-TERF {{w|Martina Navratilova}} in March 2023.<ref name="smith1">Julia Llewellyn Smith, "[https://archive.is/lpnfj Kathleen Stock: ‘Lesbians are in crisis – younger women don’t like the word’]", The Telegraph, 9 March 2023</ref><ref name="fox1">Aine Fox, "[https://archive.is/dTcVX Martina Navratilova ‘proud’ to be patron of new Lesbian Project]", The Independent, 10 March 2023</ref> In an interview with the BBC radio programme ''Woman's Hour'', she promised that the Lesbian Project wouldn't become a "single-issue focus group," since there are "many more issues to talk about for lesbians than just the issue of gender identity."<ref name="smith1" /> However, in an interview with ''The Times'', she offered the well-worn [[TERF glossary#Lesbian erasure|lesbian erasure]] canard, arguing that the lesbian community is currently facing a "crisis in which young lesbians don't want to be associated with the word," instead identifying as [[queer]] or [[non-binary]].<ref name="fox1" /> In an op-ed for ''[[The Guardian]]'', she expressed the Lesbian Project's exclusionary aims more plainly, describing its aim as "put[ting] lesbian needs and interests back into focus" and "stop[ing] lesbians disappearing into the [[queerphobia|rainbow soup]]."<ref name="stock3">Kathleen Stock, "[https://archive.is/ql76S I came out late – only to find that lesbians had slipped to the back of the queue]", The Guardian, 12 March 2023</ref>

==University of Sussex tenure==
===Early tensions===
Stock taught philosophy at the University of Sussex from 2003 to 2021. Her vocal opposition to trans rights began causing friction on the campus in 2018.<ref name="grove">Jack Grove, "[https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/kathleen-stock-life-front-line-transgender-rights-debate#survey-answer Kathleen Stock: life on the front line of transgender rights debate]", Times Higher Education, 7 January 2020</ref><ref name="green">Caitlin Green, "[https://www.liberalcurrents.com/academic-freedom-in-the-media-who-is-being-silenced/ Academic Freedom in the Media: Who Is Being Silenced?]", Liberal Currents, 4 November 2021 ([https://archive.ph/DK1rw archived link])</ref> In July of that year, Stock gave an interview with ''The Argus'', a local Brighton and Sussex paper, in which she stated "many trans women are still males with male genitalia."<ref name="argus1">Jody Doherty-Cove, [https://web.archive.org/web/20180811143602/http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/16334391.trans-women-are-still-males-with-male-genitalia/ 'Trans women are still males with male genitalia' - university lecturer airs controversial views]", The Argus, 4 July 2018</ref><ref name="tobin1">Katie Tobin, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20181126173421/https://thetab.com/uk/sussex/2018/11/23/sussex-uni-decide-not-to-take-action-against-kathleen-stock-over-trans-comments-31341?fbclid=IwAR3oszhhYIUuO8YAQFG7wja0DqadiC5_sA53FqT8U5OIm5iOydHb17cEaiA Sussex Uni decide not to take action against Kathleen Stock over trans comments]", The Sussex Tab, 23 November 2018</ref><ref name="braidwood1">Ella Braidwood, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2018/07/06/university-lecturer-says-trans-women-are-still-males-with-male-genitalia/ University lecturer criticised after declaring 'trans women are still males with male genitalia']", Pink News, 6 July 2018</ref> This and other public statements by Stock around the time spurred the Sussex Students' Union to release a statement denouncing her:<ref name="ssu1>University of Sussex Students' Union, "[https://archive.ph/LSo7u Updated Statement from Union Executive]", 10 July 2018</ref><ref group=note>The original Sussex Students' Union statement published on July 9, 2018 seems to have included the sentence: "We will not tolerate hate on our campus and we will do everything in our power to protect our students." The statement was [https://archive.ph/LSo7u apparently updated] to the quoted version on July 10, but trans-hostile media reports quoted the removed sentence for months afterward, e.g. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20220816153448/https://www.spiked-online.com/2018/07/11/it-isnt-transphobic-to-question-transgenderism/ Spiked]'' (July 11), ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20210612174726/https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/08/17/the-dangers-of-illiberal-liberalism The Economist]'' (August 17), and ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20181206011718/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/oct/30/uk-universities-struggle-to-deal-with-toxic-trans-rights-row The Guardian]'' (October 30)</ref>

{{quotebox|The University of Sussex Students' Union stands in solidarity with our trans and non-binary students, and strongly disagree with the views of Dr Kathleen Stock. 

Trans and non-binary lives are not a debate. We will do everything in our power to protect our students, and will work with the University to protect the rights of trans and non-binary students.}}

Stock compounded tensions in November 2018 when she sent an email to every student in her department expounding on her gender-critical views.<ref name="tobin1" /><ref name="stock1">Kathleen Stock, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20181126185708/https://medium.com/@kathleenstock/text-of-email-recently-sent-to-philosophy-students-f38c8f0a1a2a Text of email recently sent to Philosophy students]", 20 November 2018</ref> This message included a list of TERF [[talking point]]s, such as whether "biologically male, genitally-intact trans women" should be allowed in "female-only spaces where females undress and sleep," and the alleged "unprecedented rise in transitioning teenagers and children."<ref name="stock1" />

In October 2018, {{w|Alison Phipps}}, a professor of gender studies at Sussex, sent an email to colleagues expressing the view that "trans people at Sussex are feeling quite unsafe at the moment," citing current events such as the [[Donald Trump|Trump]] administration's anti-trans policy proposals, [[Viktor Orbán]]'s attack on liberal education in [[Hungary]], and the election of [[Jair Bolsonaro| Bolsonaro]] in [[Brazil]].<ref name="shaw1" /><ref name="duffy">Nick Duffy, "[https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/01/07/kathleen-stock-gender-critical-transgender-pride-flag-university-sussex-donald-trump/ 'Gender critical' academic claims she was personally victimised by transgender flags put up to protest Donald Trump]", Pink News, 7 January 2020</ref> Phipps asked her colleagues to voluntarily place transgender pride flags she had distributed on their office doors as a "way to start communicating to trans people that this is a safe place for them to work and study."<ref name="shaw1" /><ref name="duffy" /> Stock referenced this incident in a ''Times Higher Education'' interview in January 2020, stating that she had been asked to teach in a different academic building, only to find the flags near her classroom upon her arrival.<ref name="grove" /> She took this show of support for the trans community personally, calling it an example of the "grey area where, in apparently being kind [to one group], you can get away with [[persecution complex|some very targeted behaviour]]."<ref name="grove" /> This interview set off a fresh wave of media support for Stock.<ref name="shaw1" /> It also unleashed a torrent of online harassment against Phipps.<ref name="shaw1" />

The University of East Anglia postponed a seminar that Stock was slated to give in late January 2020 on the "philosophical issues surrounding diversity and inclusion."<ref name="parsons4">Vic Parsons, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2020/01/18/gender-critical-academic-kathleen-stock-accuses-university-east-anglia-no-platforming/ Academic who said she was ‘personally victimised’ by trans flags accuses university of ‘no-platforming’ her]", PinkNews, 18 January 2020</ref><ref name="c-turner3">Camilla Turner, "[https://archive.is/afiWo University cancelled seminar by  feminist speaker following threats of protest from transgender activists]", The Telegraph, 17 January 2020</ref><ref name="tuthill1">Ted Tuthill-Jones, "[https://www.concrete-online.co.uk/uea-postpones-seminar-by-controversial-feminist-speaker/ UEA Postpones Seminar By ‘Controversial’ Feminist Speaker]", Concrete, 28 January 2020</ref> According to Stock, the university informed her that it was concerned about the prospect of student protests, and wanted to secure a bigger venue with more security and a trans speaker for the week after her.<ref name="parsons4" /><ref name="c-turner3" /><ref name="tuthill1" /> In a statement to student paper ''Concrete'', the UEA affirmed it is "proud of [its] reputation for thinking without borders" and "welcome[s] debate from all points of view", but stressed that "as a community and as a society we need to find a way for these opinions to be debated in a respectful way, while being mindful of the impact on individuals."<ref name="tuthill1" /> Stock accused the UEA of having "[[no platform]]ed" her, telling the ''Telegraph'' that the move was "part of a wider pattern where an invitation to speak is given in the normal way, and then senior management panic in response apparently to some kind of protest"<ref name="c-turner3" /> In a statement to ''Concrete'', Stock claimed that universities are "heavily influenced by trans activist organisations such as {{w|Stonewall (charity)|Stonewall}}," charging that the UEA is involved in Stonewall diversity and inclusion programmes.<ref name="tuthill1" /> Stock had previously signed a June 2019 letter to ''The Times'' from 30 academics urging British universities to "sever their links" to Stonewall on account of its diversity programmes allegedly existing "in tension with [[academic freedom]]."<ref name="duffy2">Nick Duffy, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2019/06/18/after-30-academics-sign-letter-opposing-trans-rights-3600-sign-letter-in-support/ After 30 academics sign letter opposing trans rights, 3600 sign letter in support]", PinkNews, 18 June 2019</ref><ref>"[https://archive.is/B7VJf#selection-935.53-935.82 Stonewall Is Stifling Academia]", The Times, 16 June 2019</ref>

===Campaign for removal from post===
On October 6, 2021, Sussex students belonging to a group called Anti Terf Sussex launched a campaign for Stock to be removed from her post, arguing that "transphobes like Stock are [[anti-feminist]], anti-queer and [[anti-intellectual]]" and are "harmful and dangerous to trans people."<ref>Rachel Badham, "[https://www.gscene.com/news/gay-news/sussex-students-demand-removal-of-transphobic-kathleen-stock/ Sussex students demand removal of 'transphobic' Kathleen Stock]", GScene, 8 October 2021</ref><ref name="woolcock">Nicola Woolcock, "[https://archive.ph/IrQGm Sussex University students campaign to have ‘transphobic’ professor Kathleen Stock sacked]", The Times, 7 October 2021</ref><ref name="kelleher2">Patrick Kelleher, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/10/07/kathleen-stock-university-sussex/ Students demand Sussex uni fire anti-trans professor Kathleen Stock: 'We’ve f**king had enough']", Pink News, 7 October 2021</ref> The group staged protests and demonstrations against Stock on and around the Sussex campus."<ref name="green" /><ref name="woolcock" /> This included putting up posters at a train station near the campus with messages like "Kathleen Stock makes trans students unsafe&nbsp;— Sussex still pays her" and "We're not paying £9,250 a year for transphobia&nbsp;— fire Kathleen Stock."<ref name="green" /><ref name="woolcock" /> In an on-campus protest, [[Anti-fascism|black bloc-clad]] students carried a banner reading "Stock Out," setting off coloured smoke bombs to draw attention to it.<ref name="green" /><ref name="woolcock" /> An anti-trans [[Twitter]] commentator pronounced there were now "masked paramilitary men walking around [the Sussex] campus armed with God knows what beyond smoke bombs threatening one of [its] female professors."<ref>https://twitter.com/tlitb/status/1446073222286426113?s=20</ref>

By Stock's account, she encountered a poster "defaced" with the group's slogans on campus during the time the protests were ongoing, causing her to "burst into tears and [run] back to the train station" to return home.<ref name="griffiths">Sian Griffiths, "[https://archive.ph/IriFC Kathleen Stock, the Sussex University professor in trans row, urged to get bodyguards]", The Times, 10 October 2021</ref> She has stated that police advised her at the time that she "may need to be accompanied by bodyguards on campus" and should install CCTV surveillance outside her home.<ref name="griffiths" /><ref name="c-turner1">Camilla Turner, "[https://archive.ph/634cQ Trans-row professor quits university over ‘toxic’ environment]", The Telegraph, 28 October 2021</ref> A spokesperson for the Sussex Police confirmed to the ''Daily Mail'' that they received a "report of harassment of an employee at the University of Sussex" on October 6, stating that it was "being investigated as a report of harassment, including by use of posters and online."<ref name="duell">Mark Duell, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20211011115450/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10071797/Sussex-University-professor-blasts-trans-rights-mob-bullying-her.html Police launch harassment probe after Sussex University professor was hounded by trans rights mob <nowiki>[...]</nowiki>]", The Daily Mail, 8 October 2021</ref>

On October 12, the Sussex branch of the {{w|University and College Union}} released a statement, extending its "solidarity to all trans and non-binary members of our community" in light of "recent events on campus and ensuing public response on social media."<ref name="adams1">Richard Adams, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20211013074606/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/oct/12/professor-says-career-effectively-ended-by-unions-transphobia-claims Professor says career ‘effectively ended’ by union’s transphobia claims]", The Guardian, 12 October 2021</ref><ref name="union1">[https://web.archive.org/web/20220319144156/https://twitter.com/Docstockk/status/1447863827018702855 Screenshot] of the statement posted by Kathleen Stock on Twitter</ref> While stressing it did not "endorse the call for any worker to be summarily sacked" and opposed "all forms of [[bullying]], harassment, and intimidation of staff and students," the union urged the university to launch an "urgent investigation into the ways in which institutional transphobia operates at our university."<ref name="adams1" /><ref name="union1" /> Stock, though not personally named in the statement, charged that her "former union branch" had "effectively ended my career at Sussex University."<ref name="adams1" /><ref name="union1" /> 

The call for Stock's sacking provoked a furious response from the [[Freeze Peach]] crowd. Stock and her supporters accused the students of trying to suppress her academic freedom.<ref name="moorhead" /> The LGB Alliance, in a moment of [[Nazi analogies|supreme tone-deafness]], invoked Martin Niemöller's {{w|First they came...|"First they came…"}} poem: "If politicians, regulators, governors and above all fellow academics don't defend @Docstockk they’ll soon be able to say 'then they came for me'. And it will indeed be too late."<ref>[https://twitter.com/ALLIANCELGB/status/1446055541059592197 "The term 'Cancel Culture' doesn’t capture the bullying now rife in our academic institutions. If politicians, regulators, governors and above all fellow academics don't defend @Docstockk they’ll soon be able to say "then they came for me". And it will indeed be too late.👇"] by LGB Alliance (Oct 7, 2019) ''Twitter'' [https://archive.ph/gjj5p (archived version).]</ref> [[Toby Young]] declared the attempt to "bully a courageous woman" into silence to be "[[cancel culture]] at its absolute worst" in a piece for ''The Daily Mail''.<ref>Toby Young, "[https://archive.ph/IhQRF The disgraceful hounding of decorated radical feminist Kathleen Stock by Sussex trans rights warriors is cancel culture at its worst]", The Mail+, 8 October 2021</ref> 

Largely absent from the media conversation about Stock was the fact that the student protests were also an exercise in free speech.<ref name="shaw1" /> In an interview with BBC Radio 4 on October 8, {{w|Adam Tickell||,}} then the vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex, decried the "masked protesters, putting up posters, calling for the sacking of somebody for exercising her rights to articulate her views," but unironically vowed "if they're students, and we can identify them, we will certainly take investigations and disciplinary action."<ref name="duell" /> In an October 21 email to students, Tickell threatened to "take action" against "discrimination based on protected characteristics, including sex and philosophical belief"<ref group=note>This is an oblique reference to the second [[Trans-exclusionary radical feminist#Forstater case|Forstater decision]], which held that gender-critical views are protected as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act, but not that TERFs can say and do whatever they please without facing criticism or censure.</ref> while maintaining that the university "vigorously and unequivocally" supported Stock in "exercis[ing] her academic freedom and lawful freedom of speech."<ref name="kelleher4">Patrick Kelleher, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/10/22/adam-tickell-sussex-university-kathleen-stock/ Sussex uni threatens action against students who 'discriminate' against 'gender critical' staff]", Pink News, 22 October 2021</ref>
 
Stock announced that she was resigning from her position at Sussex of her own accord on October 28.<ref name="andersson">Jasmine Andersson, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20211030140215/https://inews.co.uk/news/education/kathleen-stock-trans-transgender-students-sussex-university-powerful-political-operators-1262958 Kathleen Stock resigns: Trans students accuse Sussex Uni of depicting them as 'powerful political operators']", The ''i'', 30 October 2021</ref> The university released a statement supporting her, holding that there were "no substantive allegations of wrongdoing made against her," and thanking her for her "significant contributions as a teacher and academic."<ref name="adams2">Richard Adams, "[https://archive.ph/GZEWE Sussex professor resigns after transgender rights row]", The Guardian, 28 October 2021</ref>

===Reports of academic retaliation===
====Nathan Oseroff====
Despite claiming that she was "silenced" and chased out of academia by rowdy activists, there have been multiple reports of Stock retaliating against less-established academics.<ref name="green" /> The first alleged act of retaliation occurred against Nathan Oseroff, a graduate student at King's College, in September 2018.<ref name="green" /> On September 8, ''The Times'' ran a hit piece accusing Natacha Kennedy, a lecturer at Goldsmiths University, of "orchestrat[ing] a smear campaign against academics across the UK."<ref name="bannerman">Lucy Bannerman, "[https://archive.ph/5mneQ Trans Goldsmiths lecturer Natacha Kennedy behind smear campaign against academics]", The Times, 8 September 2018</ref> Kennedy had sought, through a private [[Facebook]] group, to compile a list of gender-critical academics, in the hope of helping students avoid signing up for courses taught by hostile professors.<ref name="bannerman" /> Stock offered her thoughts on this purported example of academic persecution in the ''Times'' article: "What would make a philosophy department unsafe is if its academics weren’t allowed to challenge currently popular beliefs or [[ideologies]] for fear of offending. Deliberately plotting to have my department lose students, or to have me dismissed, through covert means, is surprising behaviour from a fellow academic."<ref name="bannerman" /> Oseroff shared a screenshot of this quote on Twitter with his own critical commentary: "You know what makes a philosophy department unsafe? Publicly advocating [[bigotry]] and intolerance. Campaigning to deny others their legal rights."<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery1">[https://web.archive.org/web/20211104141346/https://twitter.com/graceelavery/status/1450810644970852353?s=20 Archived Twitter thread] from Grace Lavery, with screenshots of relevant tweets</ref> Stock quote-tweeted Oseroff, asking her followers not to "[[bullying|start [a] dogpile]]" but telling Oseroff "for my own satisfaction, just this once: oh do fuck off, you complete and utter dickhead."<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery1" />

In another tweet, Stock defended her [[ad hominem|distemperate reaction]] by accusing Oseroff of defamation, and stated that he was "hardly powerless" as "editor of the American Philosophical Blog."<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery1" /> However, Oseroff wasn't ''the'' editor of the blog in question, but merely one of several editors.<ref name="green" /> That didn't stop Stock from contacting American professor {{wpl|Brian Leiter||,}} who published an article on his popular 
philosophy blog, Leiter Reports, accusing Oseroff of "libelous stupidity" against Stock.<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery1" /><ref name="leiter1">Brian Leiter, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20210928233813/https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2018/09/complete-and-utter-dickhead-watch-nathan-oseroff-edition.html 'Complete and utter dickhead' watch: social media edition (UPDATED)]", Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog, 14 September 2018</ref> Not satisfied, Stock emailed the lead editor of the {{wpl|American Philosophical Association}} blog,  complaining about Oseroff's comments about her.<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery1" /><ref name="leiter2">Brian Leiter, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20180925185336/http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2018/09/statement-by-professor-stock-regarding-the-apa-blog-and-the-behavior-of-one-of-its-associate-editors.html Statement by Professor Stock regarding the APA Blog Blog and the behavior of one of its Associate Editors (UPDATED)]", Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog, 22 September 2018</ref> The lead editor subsequently contacted Leiter to inform him that Oseroff had been suspended from the APA blog for "misconduct."<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery1" /><ref name="leiter3">Brian Leiter, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20181003204815/http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2018/09/oseroff-suspended-as-associate-editor-of-the-apa-blog.html Oseroff suspended as an editor of the APA Blog]", Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog, 24 September 2018</ref> A screenshotted email, released by Oseroff to Berkeley academic Grace Lavery, indicates that publicly apologizing to Stock and "any others who may have been hurt by your comments" was a condition of his reinstatement as a blog editor.<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20211020160037/https://twitter.com/graceelavery/status/1450850940999946240 Screenshot] posted by Grace Lavery on Twitter</ref> In October, Oseroff tweeted an apology, but was let go a few months later.<ref name="green" /><ref>Brian Leiter, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20220630070928/https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2018/10/oseroff-apologizes-to-professor-stock-and-others-for-his-on-line-conduct.html Oseroff apologizes to Professor Stock and others for his on-line conduct]", Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog, 29 October 2018</ref>

====Katie Tobin====
On November 23, 2018, student reporter Katie Tobin published an article concerning Stock in ''The Tab'', the University of Sussex's campus newspaper.<ref name="green" /><ref name="tobin1">Katie Tobin, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20181126173421/https://thetab.com/uk/sussex/2018/11/23/sussex-uni-decide-not-to-take-action-against-kathleen-stock-over-trans-comments-31341?fbclid=IwAR3oszhhYIUuO8YAQFG7wja0DqadiC5_sA53FqT8U5OIm5iOydHb17cEaiA Sussex Uni decide not to take action against Kathleen Stock over trans comments]", The Sussex Tab, 23 November 2018</ref> The article touched on Stock's controversial statements, including the [[#Early tensions|transphobic rant she had CC'd to every philosophy student]] earlier that month, and charged her with "creat[ing] a hostile and unwelcoming atmosphere within the university towards trans students."<ref name="green" /><ref name="tobin1" /> 

In a November 26 tweet, Stock, displeased with the critical press, warned the ''Tab'' she would be "seeking legal advice."<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery3">[https://web.archive.org/web/20211229193207/https://twitter.com/graceelavery/status/1450549612293545985 Archived Twitter thread] by Grace Lavery with screenshots</ref> The paper subsequently [[censorship|pulled Tobin's article]], issuing a "correction" in February 2019.<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery3" /><ref name="sussextab1">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20200612114338/https://thetab.com/uk/sussex/2019/05/02/correction-professor-kathleen-stock-34584 Correction: Professor Kathleen Stock]", The Sussex Tab, 5 February 2019</ref> This "correction" asserted that Stock was committed to "using her students preferred pronouns" and believed "all trans people share legal rights to be free of violence, discrimination and harm."<ref name="sussextab1" /> However, in her CC'd rant, Stock had cited a laundry list of clearly ideologically-based concerns.<ref name="stock1" />

Tobin reported Stock to the university for the influx of harassment she received as a result of Stock's tweet linking to her article.<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery3" /> The university cleared Stock of wrongdoing, but nonetheless decided to award Tobin the princely sum of £250, conceding she had experienced a "moderate" level of "distress and inconvenience."<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery3" /> In a follow-up email to both Stock and Tobin, a university official requested they each "respect the confidentiality of the other" and not publicly discuss the investigation, warning that this would force them to release the entire report "in the interest of fairness to both of you."<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery3" /> This effectively placed Tobin under a gag order, since the report contained personal information.<ref name="green" /><ref name="lavery3" />

====Amelia Jones====
In October 2021, the Sussex Students' Union officer for trans and non-binary students, Amelia Jones, made several media statements criticising the official university response to the [[#Campaign for removal from post|student campaign against Stock]].<ref name="kelleher3">Patrick Kelleher, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/10/13/kathleen-stock-sussex-university-trans-students/ Trans students 'shocked and dismayed' by uni's 'hypocritical' defence of professor Kathleen Stock]", Pink News, 13 October 2021</ref><ref name="thorburn">Jacob Thorburn, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20211015114349/https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10095721/BBC-apologises-student-union-rep-says-professor-supports-elimination-trans-people-law.html BBC is forced to apologise to feminist professor <nowiki>[...]</nowiki>]", The Daily Mail, 15 October 2021</ref> In an appearance on the BBC news programme ''{{w|Politics Live}}'' on October 13, Jones raised multiple objections to Stock's commentary on trans issues, including her signing of the "women's declaration of sex-based rights which wants to eliminate trans people in law."<ref name="thorburn" /> This was in reference to Stock's endorsement of the "[[#Other activism|WHRC Declaration]]", which ''does'' call for the repeal of the {{w|Gender Recognition Act|GRA mechanism}} through which the UK grants trans people legal recognition.<ref name="parsons2" /><ref name="parsons3">Vic Parsons, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/10/14/kathleen-stock-labour-taiwo-owatemi/ Labour shadow equalities minister Taiwo Owatemi systematically condemns LGB Alliance]", Pink News, 14 October 2021</ref> Jones's assessment of the Declaration's legal ramifications was thus grounded in fact. However, Stock complained to the BBC, resulting in an official "correction" being read during the October 14 broadcast of ''Politics Live'', which uncritically repeated her assertion that "the text of the declaration she signed does not amount to the claim that trans people should be eliminated in law."<ref name="thorburn" />

==Post-cancellation career==
In November 2021, it was announced that Stock would be joining the faculty of the (hypothetical as of March 2023) {{w|University of Austin||,}} an [[Academic accreditation|unaccredited]] "anti-[[woke]]" online university that promises it will offer "[[diploma mill|forbidden courses]]" in place of actual degrees.<ref>Ewan Palmer, "[https://www.newsweek.com/austin-university-woke-kathleen-stock-transphobic-1647282 Anti-Woke University of Austin Hires Professor Accused of Transphobia]", Newsweek, 9 November 2021</ref><ref>Nathan Place, "[https://archive.ph/rUQo9 Kathleen Stock: Professor accused of transphobia takes job at ‘anti-woke’ University of Austin]", The Independent, 10 November 2021</ref><ref>Megan Menchaca, "[https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/11/08/university-austin-launches-without-accreditation-physical-campus/6340353001/ Coming soon: The University of Austin, focused on 'the intrepid pursuit of truth']", Austin American-Statesman, 8 November 2021</ref><ref name="kelleher">Patrick Kelleher, "[https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/11/08/kathleen-stock-university-of-austin/ Kathleen Stock helps launch new so-called university with ‘forbidden courses’ but no actual degrees]", Pink News'', 8 November 2021</ref> The project has deservedly been met with a "withering" reception,<ref>Anemona Hartocollis, "[https://archive.ph/BEoP2 They Say Colleges Are Censorious. So They Are Starting a New One.]", The New York Times, 8 November 2021</ref> with many observers drawing comparisons to the fraudulent [[Trump University]].<ref>Daniel W. Drezner, "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/09/what-is-university-austins-purpose/ What is the University of Austin’s purpose?], The Washington Post, 9 November 2021</ref><ref>Nicholas Reimann, "[https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/11/08/heres-what-we-know-about-the-university-of-austin-the-self-proclaimed-anti-censorship-institution/?sh=150264a751a8 Here’s What We Know About The University Of Austin—The Self-Proclaimed Anti-Censorship Institution]", Forbes, 8 November 2021</ref> Stock later clarified that her position was "not a full-time role," and as such she would not be relocating to [[Texas]].<ref name="kelleher" />

She wrote a foreword for ''{{wpl|The Case Against the Sexual Revolution||,}}'' a book written by Louise Perry.<ref>Louise Perry (May 31, 2022). [https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2022/05/louise-perry-feminists-illusion-limitless-liberty-case-against-sexual-revolution "Feminists must abandon their delusions about the sexual revolution"]. ''The New Statesman''. [https://archive.ph/jDBfy (Archived)].</ref> It's written from a sex-negative feminist perspective: in opposition to the [[sexual revolution]], [[sex-positivity]], [[BDSM]], [[porn]], and [[prostitution]] (see also: [[SWERF]]). Meanwhile, Perry takes a position supportive of [[marriage]].<ref>Louise Perry (2022). ''The Case Against the Sexual Revolution''. Polity.</ref><ref>Laura Hackett (May 28 2022). [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/louise-perry-the-feminist-telling-women-to-switch-off-porn-and-get-married-sfsc9gmwl "Louise Perry: the feminist telling women to switch off porn and get married"]. ''[[News UK#The Times|The Times]]''. [https://archive.ph/okLfA (Archived)].</ref>

==Abortion==
In 2022, when [[Roe v. Wade]] was overturned, Stock stated
{{cquote|I'm [[pro-choice]]. It may surprise some to know I talk to people who are positively [[pro-life]]. Not just their pro-choice political allies, who you also revile. But the full-on pro-lifers. They have fine qualities. I refuse to do this splitting.||Kathleen Stock<ref>https://archive.vn/Fk0rx</ref><ref>Kayleigh Donaldson, "[https://www.pajiba.com/politics/dont-let-the-transphobes-blame-antiabortion-policy-on-gender-inclusivity.php Don’t Let the Transphobes Blame Anti-Abortion Policy on Gender Inclusivity]", Pajiba, 5 July 2022</ref>}}

However, by 2025, she had reversed her position.<ref>https://unherd.com/2025/11/what-progressives-wont-say-about-abortion/</ref><ref>https://archive.today/zZ3Zz</ref>  She claimed that a woman who gets an abortion "helped to cause the death of her child." She went on to argue that abortion should be illegal in at least some circumstances prior to 24 weeks of pregnancy, and in most circumstances after 24 weeks.

==External links==
* [https://dailynous.com/2019/08/06/recognizing-gender-critical-feminism-anti-trans-activism-guest-post/ "Recognizing Gender Critical Feminism as Anti-Trans Activism",] ''Daily Nous''

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist|3|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stock, Kathleen}}
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:British politics]]
[[Category:Denialists]]
[[Category:Educators]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Media hysteria]]
[[Category:Philosophers]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:TERFs]]
[[Category:Transphobes]]

Categories: Academia, Authors, British people, British politics, Denialists, Educators, LGBTQ people, Living people, Media hysteria, Philosophers, Pseudoscience promoters, TERFs, Transphobes