A coalition of hundreds of British parents accused the BBC of giving their children a “constant drip-feed” of one-sided, pro-transgender content.
The Bayswater Support Group, a support and advocacy group of British parents whose children identify as transgender, demanded that British broadcasting regulator Ofcom investigate the BBC over alleged pro-transgender propaganda, the Telegraph reported. The complaint was triggered by whistleblower Michael Prescott, a former independent adviser to the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards board, who leaked a memo to the outlet alleging systemic editorial bias at the public broadcaster.
While Prescott’s most notable allegation was that the BBC edited President Donald Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, to mislead viewers about his role in the events, Prescott also divulged a large pro-transgender bias.
“We write the following letter to request that Ofcom undertake an independent investigation into the BBC over their failure to uphold their duty of impartiality and safeguarding in their ‘constant drip feed of one-sided stories … celebrating the trans experience without adequate balance or objectivity,’” the group wrote to Ofcom.
The letter noted that the group has faced “consistent resistance” from the BBC when it has been asked to amend its coverage to provide a more balanced perspective.
“The BBC has consistently failed to engage with safeguarding concerns raised by Bayswater as to the risk of harm caused by prolific reporting on the alleged connection between gender questioning and suicide/self-harm,” the group wrote.
A BSG spokesman told the outlet that the damage has already been done, but the group hopes Ofcom can make changes to prevent further violations.
“The lack of action by the regulatory authorities has been in dereliction of their primary duty,” it said. “Tragically, we can’t undo the damage this has done to our children, but hope this complaint will cause Ofcom to address the years of failure to regulate the grossly irresponsible and politically motivated coverage of the BBC.”
The complaint included dozens of examples of bias, including interviewers’ consistent hostility toward those neutral or opposed to transgender procedures for children; several articles threatening suicide if children weren’t given access to transgender procedures; several TV show episodes presenting anyone not enthusiastic about transgender norms as villains; a lack of coverage of anyone who regretted their gender transition; hostile treatment of BSG members; and more.
The letter cited an episode of the show Waterloo Road from 2013, in which a young transgender character is portrayed uncritically. The character, Kacey Barry, cuts off her grandma with dementia after she “deadnames” the student.
In other cases, risky transgender practices, such as chest-binding — a practice that has been connected to breathing difficulties, chronic back pain, changes to the spine, and broken ribs — are portrayed uncritically.
The letter also noted that Prescott’s memo devoted only two pages to the infamous edited Trump speech on Jan. 6, but three pages to concerns about the BBC’s bias on sex and gender matters. Despite this, the BBC’s response focused on the former, devoting only two dismissive lines to allegations of bias on sex and gender.
“And on the review of sex and gender identity, the EGSC noted much of the coverage met the BBC’s standards of impartiality and accuracy,” the response letter from Samir Shah, chairman of the BBC board, to the chair of the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee said.
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The BSG letter argued that an internal BBC investigation wouldn’t be appropriate due to the thorough bias illustrated by the news agency. One of the most damning pieces of evidence was the uncovering of a “specialist LGBTQ desk” within the news section, which Prescott noted was “captured by a small group of people” who held radical views on the subject. The desk was given effective censorship power over the whole organization’s coverage of transgender and other LGBT topics.
“As virtually all shows had lost their own reporters, programme editors had to make requests to News if they wanted a correspondent to cover a story. I was told that time and time again the LGBTQ desk staffers would decline to cover any story raising difficult questions about the trans-debate,” Prescott wrote in the memo.