Right-wingers are once again accusing the BBC of a pro-trans bias in the wake of director general Tim Davie’s resignation – however, previous backlash to the corporation’s trans content shows that’s definitely not the case.

Davie, 58, resigned alongside several top BBC officials over accusations that a BBC Panorama documentary misled viewers with an edited speech by president Donald Trump.

According to a leaked internal memo, ex-journalist Michael Prescott, while acting as advisor to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board, suggested the edited speech made it seem as though the US president had explicitly encouraged the deadly US capitol insurrection on 6 January 2021.

Shared by The Telegraph, the leaked memo also suggested BBC reporters had “censored” coverage on LGBTQ+ issues as part of a so-called ‘pro-trans agenda.’

It comes after the BBC upheld 20 impartiality complaints against presenter Martine Croxall who infamously visibly scoffed at the term ‘pregnant people’ during a June news broadcast.

Prescott expressed his “despair” at what he described as inaction when “issues come to light.”

The controversy has, once again, ignited accusations from right-wing groups and naysayers that the organisation holds a pro-trans bias.

Today, for example, the Daily Mail ran a story with the (very lengthy) headline: “Civil war at the BBC as ‘woke pro-trans staff’ rebel against board, while the chairman apologises for doctored Trump video and axed exec hits back at US President’s claims of ‘corruption'”

The BBC is far from pro-trans, here are just a few examples

Anyone actually aware of the BBC’s history of reporting on LGBTQ+ and transgender issues will know that calling it pro-trans is far from the truth.

The organisation has repeatedly faced backlash not only for the way it covers trans topics, but for the gender and identity topics it does choose to cover.

Arguably the most infamous example is the controversy it courted over an article titled “The lesbians who feel pressured to have sex and relationships with trans women.”

The October 2021 article asserts that cisgender lesbians are being “pressured and coerced into accepting trans women as partners.” In it, three anonymous cis women, who say they only date “biologically female” people, claim they have faced harassment for refusing to date trans people.

Its justification for the claim derived from an X.com poll by gender-critical campaign group Get the L Out, which reported that 56 per cent of the eighty people polled said they felt pressured into having sex with trans women.

The article temporarily featured quotes from adult film star Lily Cade who just days later called for the lynching of several prominent trans women. Cade’s comments were removed after sexual assault allegations came to light.

The BBC faced further criticism in 2024 after it featured quotes from a well-known advocate for conversion therapy in an article on puberty blockers.

A feature published by BBC journalist Deborah Cohen in December that year on the NHS’ puberty blocker trial included quotes from an academic at the Bayswater Support Group, an organisation that advocates for parents to use ‘DIY’ conversion practices against trans children.

An article from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) published earlier that year uncovered leaked messages from Bayswater’s internal forums, showing members admitting they are “abusive” towards their children.

Trans Safety Network, a UK-based nonprofit, heavily condemned the BBC’s article, which described Bayswater as a “collection of parents with children who are questioning their gender who say they are ‘wary of medical solutions to gender dysphoria’.”

The nonprofit wrote: “This is a wholly inaccurate representation of the organisation that leaves out important context about the nature and aims of the group and its indisputable promotion of conversion therapy.”

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