BBC respond to my complaint re the C word

[pennydrew]

I complained about an article using the term starting with ‘c’ that is happily not allowed on Mumsnet. This is their response:

Thank you for getting in touch about our article reporting that campaigners opposed to a council motion about Liverpool's transgender community have been accused of "intimidation" and "abuse" by the city's mayor (www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-45589563).

We amended this sentence to now simply refer to “women” because “c**gender women” may not be widely understood by readers.

Thank you once again for getting in touch.

Kind Regards

BBC Complaints Team
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

I've just had the same reply.

Oh I thought you were going to say 'cunt'.
C** is really offensive.

Good, well done for complaining. The reason they give for amending is a bit mealy mouthed but it is accurate - the vast majority of the population know what the word does, and doesn't, mean.

Intimidation? BS!

The word 'woman' obv.

The 4 letter c word isn't banned on here unless it's being used as a personal attack.
The 3 letter one likewise, we can discuss the word 'cis', just no one is allowed to apply it to anyone to whom it Is objectionable. (I think by extension to women in general)

Well done pennydrew - even if they weaselled out of saying it was offensive.

That's great well done! Air punch!

They have to find a reason for making the change that will not provoke the TRA, so they've done that. They haven't admitted the word is abusive to women. But they've taken it out, and that is a victory.

Well done!

The BBC lied to you
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-45589563

Oh, so the woke bro's have recognised that other people may not understand their crap terminology. Not that it's crap, mind you (and offensive). Just that their non-woke readers might not understand it.

Fuckers

'treating trans women the same as women who are not transgender'

That would be women

BBC soooooo frightened of them
Journalistic integrity my arse

That is the most breathtakingly biased piece of shite I've read.

The piece linked by Charliethefeminist

Rooten Boroughs, local journos in rotten boroughs

Thank you! I dislike being called "cis" and wasn't part of any discussion where it was decided women would have to accept this prefix.

Charlie

Have you got a link to the speech by the Liverpool Resister? As I recall it was really good. Then followed by a red faced sweaty man throwing DARVO around

It's the piece complained about by fab Penny

They have replaced 'cisgender' with 'women who are not transgender' and lied to Penny that they replaced it with 'women'.

They are truly pathetic. I don't know if Coln Tregear is still Head of Complaints but he had a lovely visit with All About Trans a couple of years ago, around about the time they were also visiting with BBC Editorial Policy. If you want a link I'll get you one.

No sorry @r0wantrees sorry to tag you in but do you?
Sweaty man being Joe Anderson standing on his hind legs

Charlie

trotters. Yes

Hardly surprising. www.thetimes.co.uk/article/two-per-cent-of-bbc-staff-are-transgender-krb3bc7nd

You should see what some of them tweet out

Thank you for alerting me to their lie. I have replied to their email:

^^Please do not lie to me.

This is what you call us now:

“ women who are not transgender “.

You have not done as you have said, but now apparently, the default position is ‘transwoman’ and women are now referred to only in relation to them.

I will escalate this if you do not stop your oppressive and sexist language. I am enraged that you have insulted me twice, the second with a barefaced god damn lie. How dare you insult women this way. This is as bad as the Green Party referring to us as ‘non-men’.

You disgust me.

Thank you lovely people for your support. We used to work for the BBC. Fuck them. My absolute pet hate is lying. Pointless time wasting exercise.

Totally disingenuous.

Penny, you are a star