We wrote in more

The Guardian media editor on the BBC and That article:

The BBC has rejected complaints that it published a transphobic article and has instead given a commitment to covering different viewpoints in the name of impartiality.

The corporation has faced protests outside some of its regional newsrooms, petitions from trans campaign groups and disquiet among many LGBTQ+ staff members over a piece published online last week entitled “We’re being pressured into sex by some trans women”.

On Monday the BBC said it stood by the article about the experience of some lesbians, adding it had been subject to a rigorous editing process, and that it met its editorial guidelines.

One BBC source said the broadcaster has received 4,819 complaints about the article but a further 5,520 people wrote in to note their approval of the piece.

Ha! I was one, and I bet some of you were also.

The Guardian understands the article had been the subject of debate for some time before it was published and was subject to extensive back-and-forth editing. Bosses were acutely aware of the likely reaction to it on social media – and among the BBC’s own staff, who are often deeply split on the issue of trans rights.

Please stop talking about “trans rights” without spelling out what you mean by the phrase. We controversial gender critics don’t want to take any human rights away from trans people, but we don’t consider it a “right” for men to claim to be women and then take everything set aside for women for themselves.

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