A mental health lecturer at King's College London has likened LGBT activists to the Nazis, referring to them as the "Gaystapo" – a play on Gestapo, the Nazis' secret police – and "sanctimonious petty Napoleons" in a row about a prominent former student.

Dr Niall McCrae made the remarks in an article he wrote with Reverend Jules Gomes for the website Conservative Woman, in which the pair criticised the university's decision to remove a picture of Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, from the college's "wall of fame" – a gallery of notable alumni at the Strand campus in central London.

This decision followed several years of concerns raised by LGBT students over the picture because of Lord Carey's opposition to same-sex marriage.

However, a spokesperson for King's College told BuzzFeed News the picture was not removed because of allegations of homophobia but to make way for a new digital display reflecting "research breakthroughs", "student and staff successes", and "our renowned alumni".

The spokesperson also confirmed that pictures of other former students as well as Carey were removed for the same reasons.