Former Archbishop of Canterbury's picture removed from London college after anti-gay marriage comments

A picture of the former Archbishop of Canterbury has been removed from a London university following a LGBT+ student rights campaign.

The image of Lord George Carey is one of a number to be taken down from a “wall of fame” at King’s College London (KCL), an outdoor display which has been criticised for lack of diversity.

A student campaign to remove Lord Carey’s portrait began more than four years ago, when the former church leader spoke out against the legalisation of gay marriage.

In a statement, King’s College London said the picture had been removed after a review had concluded that its alumni pictures “did not capture the diversity of our university campus.”

The decision has been criticised by some, however, including one KCL academic who said the move was a victory for the “gay-stapo”.

Writing for Times Higher Education, lecturer Niall McCrae and Rev Jules Gomes said: “For a prestigious institution of Christian heritage to allow this campaign to claim victory is worrying.

“Lord Carey is not homophobic, but his name has been tarnished by a ‘gay-stapo’ that refuses to acknowledge that a clergyman cares for all, while maintaining a traditional view of marriage.”

In 2012, Lord Carey said that for “time immemorial”, marriage must only be between a man and a woman.

He added: “Same-sex relationships are not the same as heterosexual relationships and should not be put on the same level.”

University officials said portraits of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Michael Howard have also been removed to make space for new digital screens by the Strand campus entrance.

The campaign to get Lord Carey’s image removed was led by KCL student union president Ben Hunt, who was standing for the position of LGBT+ officer at the time.

Responding to the decision to remove Lord Carey from the display, Mr Hunt said he had carried on a campaign that had been running for several years at the institution, and was motivated to make the window display more diverse and representative of the current KCL community.

In a statement, he said: "The digital windows express a community which strives to be accepting of diversity and inclusive.

"It comes after a campaign of several years which was concluded through collaboration and a shared will of the Union and College to do more to represent what all of the King’s community does in service of society.

"It is this message, one of collaboration and inclusion, which I would like to emphasise."

He added: "For journalists to employ language like ‘gaystapo’ which has very negative connotations for LGBT+ groups, as well as for people of colour and the Jewish community, is hurtful and harmful and creates a tone of division which this project does not represent."

A KCL spokesman said: 'In 2015 a review of our window display policy across all our campuses was undertaken by representatives from External Relations, the Students' Union and Alumni Relations.

“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.

"The decision was taken that we should expand the breadth of content to include the achievements of our students and staff.”

The Independent has approached Lord Carey for comment.