The BBC’s newly appointed director-general is facing immediate pressure to purge trans activists from the broadcaster following a controversial editorial decision.
Just three days before Matt Brittin assumed control on Monday, it is said the corporation rejected numerous complaints regarding a Radio 4 Woman’s Hour episode, which featured a biological male discussing experiences of misogyny.
Raewyn Connell, a gender studies academic from the University of Sydney who began identifying as female in their sixties, appeared on the programme to analyse the Louis Theroux documentary Inside The Manosphere, and to discuss personal encounters with misogyny.
Listeners objected that a biological male cannot experience misogyny, questioning why the programme selected a man to address what they termed a female-specific issue.
The BBC’s executive complaints unit defended the booking as “justified,” stating editorial guidelines “do not support excluding contributors on the basis of their sex or gender identity.”
Critics argue the corporation remains choked by trans ideology, despite last year’s Supreme Court ruling establishing the definitions of a man and woman are rooted in biological sex.
Fiona McAnena, campaigns director at the sex-based rights organisation Sex Matters, said: “The BBC has been immersed in trans ideology for so long that even now, after the damaging scandal of the BBC bias dossier and the clarity of the Supreme Court ruling, it still indulges trans activist demands at the expense of female employees and of accurate reporting.”
She added that if the broadcaster wishes to restore public confidence, “Matt Brittin needs to weed out the trans activists and reassure staff that genuine impartiality will be rewarded, not punished.”
Matt Brittin, pictured at an event in 2018, is the new Director General of the BBC | GETTY
On Thursday, the Equality and Human Rights Commission released updated guidance reinforcing trans women are not women under the Equality Act, and cannot access female-only spaces.
Women’s rights campaigners declared there were “no more excuses” for the BBC to remain neutral on the matter.
Senior figures accused of enabling the pro-trans culture within BBC News remain in their posts, according to The Telegraph’s accounts from current and former staff.
Jonathan Munro, the global news director, Stuart Miller, digital news editor, and Richard Burgess, director of news content, have all been alleged by insiders as responsible for platforming radical trans ideology.
This week, Fran Unsworth, former director of news and current affairs, revealed she had been bullied out of her position by trans activists within the organisation.
The roots of trans activist influence at the BBC stretch back to winter 2010-11, when the corporation and ITV provided £20,000 in seed funding to Trans Media Watch, a group later renamed All About Trans.
Sources say the organisation quickly gained access to BBC staff, advising on which guests should be excluded from programmes.
On one occasion, the entire Newsnight team, including then-presenter Evan Davis, attended a meeting with the group.
The broadcaster joined Stonewall’s diversity scheme in 2015, and a 2017 staff survey on LGBT matters allegedly over-represented trans employees’ views.
A 2020 restructuring established a centralised LGBT desk within BBC News, which according to a leaked internal report exercised “effective censorship” by blocking gender-critical coverage.
One source recalled Dr Hilary Cass’s 2022 interim report on youth gender services was initially ignored by the website entirely.
Former staff describe a culture where gender-critical perspectives were routinely dismissed as “niche” or inappropriate, according to the Telegraph.
One long-serving employee who departed in frustration recalled being told they were “bringing the newsroom into disrepute” after spending five years attempting to commission experts on sex versus gender.
A BBC spokesman said: “BBC News has taken a number of actions relating to our reporting of sex and gender including updating the news style guide and sharing new guidance, making our Social Affairs Editor responsible for this coverage, and where there have been concerns about particular stories, we have addressed them.
“We continually review our coverage to reflect developments such as the Supreme Court Ruling. We are reviewing the guidance and what it means for our spaces. Our priority has always been to provide facilities in the workplace that respect the needs and rights of all staff and visitors to our buildings.”
Shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston rejected any delay, stating: “Now that the guidance has been approved, the BBC must implement it without dither and delay.”