University of Sussex fined £585k in transphobia free speech row

The University of Sussex has been fined £585,000 by the higher education regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), for failing to uphold freedom of speech.
It follows the case of Prof Kathleen Stock, who left the university in 2021 after being accused of transphobia for her views on sex and gender issues.
The OfS criticised the university’s policy statement on trans and non-binary equality, saying its requirement to “positively represent trans people” and an assertion that “transphobic propaganda [would] not be tolerated” could lead staff and students to “self-censor”.
The University of Sussex plans to legally challenge the OfS findings, vice-chancellor Prof Sasha Roseneil said.
Describing the judgement as an “unreasonably absolutist definition of free speech”, the university said the ruling left institutions facing “opposing and irreconcilable duties” that rendered them “powerless to prevent abusive, bullying and harassing speech”.

Courtesy: BBC