Oxford University fellow says city’s Centre for Islamic Studies sacked him for being bisexual because it ‘did not comply with preferences’ of major Saudi backers
- Dr Kevin Fogg, 37, was dismissed from role at Centre for Islamic Studies in 2018
- Argues that his sexual orientation was against preferences of centre’s trustees
- Dr Fogg will face the centre in an employment tribunal due to begin next week
An Oxford University fellow believes he was unfairly dismissed from his role as an academic for being bisexual, as he ‘did not comply with the preferences’ of the centre’s major Saudi funders.
Dr Kevin Fogg, 37, from Virginia, U.S, was dismissed from his role at The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in 2018 after five years as a research fellow, he argues this was due to his age and sexual orientation.
The centre, which is dedicated to the study of all aspects of Islamic culture, civilization and contemporary Muslim societies, receives funding from a number of states including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates – where homosexuality is illegal.
Dr Kevin Fogg, 37, who is an expert in the history of Islam in south-east Asia, will face the centre in an employment tribunal due to begin next week
Dr Fogg believes that the preferences of the centre’s board of trustees which includes Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki Al-Faisal and Malaysia’s Sultan Nazrin Shah, sultan of Perak, influenced the decision to dismiss him.
Dr Fogg, who is an expert in the history of Islam in south-east Asia, will face the centre in an employment tribunal due to begin next week.
He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘As a homo- sexually partnered bisexual man, I do not comply with the preferences of the centre’s major funders.
‘The leadership made several references to my age, which I believe to have been coded language equivalent to call- ing me a ‘confirmed bachelor’.
MailOnline has contacted The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (pictured) for comment
He added that he felt the centre was intolerant towards ‘non-heterosexual lifestyles’ and that his dismissal had been detrimental to his mental health.
The centre dismissed the claims, telling The Daily Telegraph that Dr Fogg’s allegations had ‘no basis in fact’.
A spokesman for the centre told the publication that Mr Fogg had been employed on a five-year academic fellowship which had come to an end after being extended for a further year, and said that the fellow ‘has been treated very well’.
MailOnline has contacted The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies for comment.
The centre is a recognised independent centre of the University of Oxford.
Mr Fogg is now Associate Director of the Carolina Asia Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.