Suzy Eddie Izaard has been awarded an honorary degree on Sunday from a university at the centre of a transgender rights controversy.
The stand-up comedian, 63, - who likes to go by the name Suzy but doesn't mind being called by her birth name Eddie - was honoured when she was made a doctor by the University of Sussex.
The university was at the centre of a trans storm after lecturer, Professor Kathleen Stock, was targeted in a campaign of hate and abuse.
Professor Stock, 53, was 'cancelled' and forced to leave the university in 2021 as she was accused of transphobia.
In March this year the university was fined £585,000 for its failure to uphold free speech rights of the feminist professor.
Her offences included stating in 2020 that 'the claim "transwomen are women" is fiction, not literally true'.
Suzy Eddie Izaard, 63, has been awarded an honorary degree on Sunday from a university at the centre of a transgender rights controversy.
The stand-up comedian, who likes to go by the name Suzy but doesn't mind being called by her birth name Eddie, was honoured when she was made a doctor by the University of Sussex.
She also said 'spaces where women undress and sleep should remain genuinely single-sex in order to protect them'.
The fine was issued by the Office for Students (OfS), which criticised its policy statement on 'Trans and Non-Binary equality'.
It said Sussex's requirement to 'positively represent trans people' and an assertion that 'transphobic propaganda [would] not be tolerated' could lead staff and students to 'self-censor'.
It is the largest ever given to a university, though Sussex has vowed to challenge the OfS findings legally.
Suzy Izzard as well as politician, Sir Ben Bradshaw, and four other Sussex alumni received honorary doctorates as part of the university's summer graduation ceremonies.
The stand-up comedian, activist and actor said: 'It is an honour to be conferred this doctorate in recognition of my work as an actor, comedian, my activism and charity work over the years.
'It is even more special that this is being awarded by the University of Sussex as this is the county in which I grew up in and one which holds a special place in my heart.'
Izzard, who spent a large part of her childhood in Bexhill and Eastbourne, has been a campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights.
Universities are reviewing their transgender equality policies after Sussex University was handed a record fine over the handling of feminist professor Kathleen Stock, who was hounded out of her job by activists.
Professor Stock, 53, said she had been 'cancelled' and was forced to leave the university in 2021 after she was accused of transphobia.
Her charity work includes raising £1.8m for Sport Relief by completing 43 marathons in 51 days in 2009 and a further £1.35m for the same charity when she ran 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa, to honour Nelson Mandela's 27 years in prison.
Izzard said: 'The University of Sussex is a key and integral part of the local community, and its students go on to have inspiring careers and change the world.'
It comes after Izzard revealed she would be 'very happy to have children' and confessed she's open to falling in love again with a woman.
She previously said that she has always fancied women over men and her last known relationship was with singer Sarah Townsend.
Izzard spoke to Gyles Brandreth on the Rosebud podcast and said: 'I would be very happy to have children. But at the moment it's not there. Never say never.'
She added: 'I am trans, but I fancy women, I've always fancied women, never fancied boys or men, it just doesn't work for me.'
While discussing her love life and hopes for the future, Eddie admitted that she is not actively looking for love right now because she is 'happy' in her own company.
She revealed: 'I'm not going to go into lots of relationships. It is tricky - having relationships if you're a trans person that's going to be tricky, but I'm quite happy with my own company.'
'I'm very happy in the position that I am at the moment so I'm not looking. If someone comes along and we click very well - then absolutely.'
She continued: 'But I'm not actively going to discos.'
'I do believe at some point the right person could be there and we could click.'
She also discussed the type of partner she wants in life, by saying: 'It would need to be an intelligent person; great conversation; good sense of humour; attractive.'