A University of Texas (UT) professor accused of promoting pedophilia has filed two lawsuits against a UT student and assistant instructor.
Thomas Hubbard, a classics professor, sued UT senior Hollie Green and assistant instructor Zoe Thomas, both of whom criticized him on Twitter. Last year UT students called for Hubbard’s removal after his writings on age of consent laws were discovered, the Austin American-Statesman reports.
In his writing, Hubbard challenged gender-neutral age-of-consent laws, appearing to promote the acceptance of relationships between underage boys and adult individuals.
He also taught a class called “mythologies of rape.”
In November 2019 Green tweeted, “Classics Prof. Thomas Hubbard has ties to NAMBLA … a pedophile organization.”
NAMBLA is the North American Man/Boy Love Association, a pedophile advocacy group.
“He also taught a class @ UT where he required students to write abt personal experiences of sexual assault to see if they were ‘really’ rape, or just ‘bad sex,'” Green wrote.
According to the lawsuit, Thomas tweeted last year that she felt, “”Disgust, rage, fear, anxiety.”
“It is a lot to parse, and Twitter is not the place to do it. Suffice to say: I am 100% behind these extremely brave undergraduates who are risking themselves in a system stacked against them to put an end to this BS,” wrote Thomas in support of the students calling for Hubbard’s removal.
Hubbard’s lawyer, Joe Sibley, says his client does not promote pedophilia but rather researches pederasty, the sexual attraction of adult males to adolescent boys. The Statesman reports that Hubbard has not been charged with sexual assault crimes or accused of sexual harassment on campus.
In July, Hubbard filed a libel lawsuit against UT sophomore Sarah Blakemore and 10 other unnamed individuals.
After these calls for removal, Sibley said someone threw a brick through the window of Hubbard’s home and spray painted “child rapist” next to his door. No suspects were identified, but Hubbard’s lawsuit pins the blame on the group Popular Women’s Movement.
The University of Texas has said that the study of controversial or offensive topics, though it may upset students, does not go against university policy and does not warrant disciplinary action.
“Greek Love Reconsidered,” a book written by Hubbard, was published by Wallace Hamilton Press, which is operated by NAMBLA. Sibley denied that Hubbard was “heavily involved” with the organization and claims he disagrees with the organization’s stance on consent laws.
“Dr. Hubbard was not aware of this at the time of the publication, and we are unsure when and how any rights to the book were assigned between Wallace Hamilton Press and NAMBLA,” said Sibley.