Oh come on, Beeb.

The BBC has defended its use of female pronouns to describe a transgender killer who stabbed their partner to death with a samurai sword.

Joanna Rowland-Stuart, who was born male and was known as John Stuart, attacked Andrew Rowland-Stuart at their Brighton home in 2024, in what a jury found was an unlawful killing. The couple had married in a civil partnership but reporting on the court hearing earlier this year, BBC News headlined one story “Wife killed husband with samurai sword” and began: “A woman killed her husband…”.

The BBC used the pronouns “she” and “her” throughout its coverage.

A number of people contacted the BBC to complain. One wrote: “Using female pronouns to refer to a man is not accurate.”

And that’s all the more true when the female pronouns are in reporting on a very violent, physical murder of a kind a woman would be extremely unlikely to undertake.

In a written response, the broadcaster’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said: “The BBC recognises the debate around sex and gender identity involves deeply held and sometimes conflicting views. The BBC’s approach, therefore, is to use terminology which is clear and appropriate to the context.”

HOW IS THE TERMINOLOGY CLEAR????

Calling a man a woman is not clear; calling a man who chops up his spouse with a sword a woman is not clear; calling a man who chops up his spouse with a sword a woman is in no way APPROPRIATE TO THE CONTEXT.