Dr John Finnis Oxford University is standing by an emeritus law professor after more than 400 people have signed a petition last week calling for his removal from the university. Petition organisers say the professor holds discriminatory views about homosexuality and transgenderism.
“John Finnis, Professor at Oxford’s Law Faculty, has a long record of extremely discriminatory views against many groups of disadvantaged people. He is known for being particularly homophobic and transphobic,” the petition reads.
Petition
Finnis (78) retired from full-time teaching work in 2010, but co-teaches seminars for postgraduate students. He also holds a chair at the University of Notre Dame’s law school.
Referencing a 1994 essay on homosexuality especially criticised in the petition, Finnis said it “promotes a classical and strictly philosophical moral critique of all non-marital sex acts and has been republished many times, most recently by Oxford University Press in the third volume of my Collected Essays”.
Finnis told The Oxford Student that “the petition travesties my position, and my testimony in American constitutional litigation. Anyone who consults the Law Faculty website and follows the links in the petition can see the petition’s many errors. I stand by all these writings. There is not a ‘phobic’ sentence in them.”
In response to the petition calling for Finnis’ removal, an Oxford spokesperson said that the university and its law school “promote an inclusive culture which respects the rights and dignity of all staff and students”.