Mary Daly, lesbian feminist, theologian and professor at Boston College, has died aged 81.

Controversially, Daly barred men from her classes though she did tutor them privately. In 1999 two male students signed up for her class to test her exclusionary policy. One of the students was backed by a right-wing think tank, and neither student had the necessary academic credentials to take the class. Boston College then demanded she accept the men. Instead of allowing men to join her class she resigned.

College spokesman Jack Dunn said:
“An outspoken lesbian-feminist and separatist, Daly provoked outrage by challenging established ideas and institutions that she considered destructive to women’s power and creativity.

“From organized religion to the university world she calls “academentia,” to men themselves, Daly dissected the “death-loving” culture of patriarchy and its effects on the minds and hearts of women. However, her brilliant body of work was far more than a litany of complaints. It was a joyously iconoclastic search for liberation, and an exploration of a hypothetical women-centered landscape where patriarchal domination has lost its power."