A fiery clash erupted live on GB News as Sex Matters campaigner Maya Forstater accused LGBT activist Peter Tatchell of “sexist nonsense” during a heated debate on BBC bias.
The exchange came as the pair discussed claims that the BBC’s reporting on trans issues has been shaped by “gender ideology”.
Ms Forstater argued that the broadcaster repeatedly misreports crimes committed by trans-identified men as being carried out by women and accused bosses of “undermining the integrity of journalism”.
She said: “For weeks on end they’ve reported male murderers as women.
The pair discussed claims that the BBC’s reporting on trans issues has been shaped by ‘gender ideology’
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GB NEWS
“Their job isn’t to promote people’s identities, it’s to deliver the news so that the audience can understand it.”
Mr Tatchell pushed back, insisting that gender identity was “part of people’s reality” and should be acknowledged in reporting.
“It’s valid for news reporters to refer to someone’s gender identity,” he said.
“You have a female gender identity, and I have a male gender identity.”
However, the segment took a sharp turn when Mr Tatchell added: “Look at the way you’re dressed your makeup, your clothes. You’re affirming your female identity.
“You’re not dressing according to a male identity because you don’t identify as male. You identify as a woman, and that’s reflected in your presentation.”
BBC has faced biased claims
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PA
Ms Forstater immediately hit back, saying: “That’s such a load of sexist nonsense, Peter. Being a woman isn’t about wearing makeup.”
The pair had earlier sparred over whether reporters should describe trans-identified offenders or athletes according to their biological sex.
She said: “No one’s asking for people to be introduced as ‘biological man’. But when sex is relevant, it has to be accurate.”
Mr Tatchell said he agreed that trans women with a history of violence should not be housed in women’s prisons, but maintained that gender identity and sex “are two different things”.
The comments come after The Daily Telegraph revealed that the BBC’s coverage is being “censored” by pro-trans staff who are refusing to cover stories on the issue.
Other employees at the broadcaster have raised concerns that a “small group of people” are preventing anti-trans perspectives from being aired.
Their actions have led to a “constant drip-feed of one-sided stories… celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity”, according to a leaked internal BBC memo.
It added that this reflected “a cultural problem across the BBC”, which treats issues of gender and sexuality as “a celebration of British diversity”.