Former archbishop removed from Strand alumni wall for ‘anti-gay’ views

A King’s lecturer has accused university leaders of “giving in to ‘gay-stapo’ student campaigners” after a campaign to remove former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, from the alumni window was successful after five years of protest.

Addressing a rally in Birmingham Town Hall in 2012, Lord Carey likened gay marriage to “an act of cultural and theological vandalism” and said “same-sex relationships are not the same as heterosexual relationships and should not be put on the same level.”

Hundreds of King’s students signed a petition asking for Lord Carey’s removal from the windows after his homophobic statements about gay relationships.

Lord Carey’s picture has been taken down from The Strand campus wall

Niall McCrae, who is a lecturer in mental health at KCL, attacked the decision to remove the Archbishop from the wall, commenting: “For a prestigious institution of Christian heritage to allow this campaign to claim victory was worrying.”

It was in an article co-written with Pastor Jules Gomes that he said Lord Carey’s name had been “tarnished by a ‘gay-stapo’.”

KCLSU President Ben Hunt who “carried on a campaign that had been running at King’s for several years”, released a statement this morning.

Ben wrote: “LGBT+ students over several years had been concerned with the portrayal of Lord Carey of Clifton as an alumni who should be celebrated due to his views expressed during the debate regarding gay marriage.

“A petition was signed asking for his removal by hundreds of students several years ago, as well as policy being passed through our democratic system endorsing the Union to take this stance.”

A King’s spokesperson said: “It was agreed that the current static displays, which are costly to maintain, or change, did not capture the diversity of our university community and that this should change.”

You can read Ben’s full statement here.