BBC to address ‘heteronormative culture’ with LGBT reforms

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

The BBC is taking action over a perceived “heteronormative culture” at the broadcaster by making LGBT reforms.

Language is to be more inclusive, with non-binary pronouns used by BBC staff where appropriate, as part of internal changes to retain staff and “cut ice” with young viewers.

A network of “straight allies” will be set up to advance the interests of LGBT staff, with badges to identify them, according to a BBC report.

Action is being taken over fears that a “heteronormative culture, particularly around language” was developing within the company, and that the environment was not fully supportive of LGBT staff.

home.bt.com/news/showbiz-news/bbc-to-address-heteronormative-culture-with-lgbt-reforms-11364302727214

It's like an episode of W1 A

Am I allowed to say? @uhh_kate.

Times has an article about it too:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc-staff-told-to-use-non-binary-pronouns-9xwckgn69?shareToken=45acbc79097b2af07b3ed91481a30447

I was looking for the article how the BBC is a lot more diverse than the population but they mention it at the end of this article, supposedly 417 employees identify as transgender.

I’m beginning to think the whole transgen thing (thanks for the term, Tasmanian article) is a longstanding project (Russia, N Korea, Iran?) with the ultimate aim of discrediting the BBC. If it’s not, I bet there are some bad actors (love that term, for ages thought it was critical of Hollywood) kicking themselves because they didn’t think of it first.

It's all about trans, nothing to do with LG.

So you agree the "B" gets forgotten then?

Please spare a thought for the BBC staff whp don’t buy into this shit. They do exist

If the BBC are concerned about inclusivity, maybe they could look into why (according to that Times link) they employ more than 3 times as many gay men as gay women.

Lots of homophobia in this thread

Lots of homophobia in this thread

Could you quote some? Only, I’m a lesbian and I haven’t noticed any.

The broadcaster has 417 employees who identify as transgender out of a total staff of 21,239, according to diversity statistics released last year. Its workforce also includes 786 gay men, 206 gay women and 365 bisexuals.

Why are trans people and gay men so over representated in the BBC employment figures whilst lesbians look suspiciously like they are close to being under represented compared to the national statistics??

For somewhere saying its in danger of becoming a 'heteronormative culture' this is a place which is disportionately has more gay and trans people than the national population and this move seems to be actually almost protectionist for that and encouraging greater over representation rather than thinking about how reflective of society the BBC is.

In terms of 'being told to increase the “incidental portrayal of LGBT identities” in their programmes', with a community of employees who are over representated by gay and trans people - so their social life and lived experience is not necessarily reflective of real life - there is a danger that will lead to over representation of “incidental portrayal of LGBT identities” because of their social bubble. If lesbians are under represented they are not going to get the same look in.

This also has an impact on diversity elsewhere as being openly LGBT is still much more likely to be associated with being white.

So in terms of diversity and representation the BBC is not necessarily doing a good thing here.

It depends on how you look at it, but it's easy to make the case that the BBC has an agenda not consistent with the real world and is in practice actually arguebly anti diversity and suspiciously more like 'jobs for the boys'.

I imagine they might employ three times as many gay men as women because there are more gay men than women; I’m not sure of the exact ratios but I don’t think that’s too far outside it.

That’s more gay men than gay women, of course. There aren’t three times as many gay men as women overall...

So this is what the money that they're not paying their senior female presenters is being spent on, then?

Why are they worried about a 'heteronormative culture' to this degree and not a patriarchal culture?

The Beeb has long been mocked for its convoluted use of impenetrable, convoluted language (Private Eye calls it Birtspeak).
The use of language to mean whatever you want it to mean is a good way of messing with people’s heads and (deliberately or inadvertently) softening them up so they will eventually believe anything you say, however ridiculous. This is what seems to have happened, with some at least. (It’s a tactic that has been refined by the alt-right recently to include arrant nonsense and blatant lies presented as fact and truth.)
George Orwell got much of his inspiration for 1984 from working at the BBC.

Are there really more gay men than women? Where I live I know several lesbian couples, only one male couple.

I imagine they might employ three times as many gay men as women because there are more gay men than women; I’m not sure of the exact ratios but I don’t think that’s too far outside it.

Are there really? Why’s that? I always thought about 1 in 10 of the population was gay/bi but I don’t know where I got that from and was told on here recently that that was a vast over estimate.

George Orwell got much of his inspiration for 1984 from working at the BBC.

I didn’t know that! Learn something new everyday on here.

I applied for the BBC a few years ago. I got past stage one. I failed on psychological profiling section.

I was surprised I got past stage one tbh, it was a real long shot but to fail on psych has bothered me ever since. Not just on a personal level but also because of the lack of transparency and thoughts of how you could build an organisation which doesn't think or challenge authority because you only employ 'compliant' rather than 'difficult' personalities. And what that means for people who fail. Are they people who think wrong?

I don't know. I understand why they use it - to try and eliminate human bias. Except we know that bias is programmed.

I do wonder.

Orwell’s (Eric Blair’s) BBC resignation letter in 1943. He resigned over the “hopelessness” of broadcasting (government) propaganda to India.
www.bbc.co.uk/archive/orwell/7430.shtml
A bit of background here (you have to scroll halfway down):
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/02/070122_html_40s.shtml
Apologies for minor derail.

My assumption was that "equality" meant that sex and sexuality, race or disability was no longer an issue in the workplace, and that instead recruitment, promotion etc was based on merit.

Instead the BBC are going in the opposite direction and laying emphasis on differences. Taking them presumably into Pips Bunce "dress - up Friday" territory.

Is there scope to describe yourself as fluid, so you are asexual in the work place, or even agender. (Is there such a thing or is it only in the context of the BBC having agender.)

Around 1.7% of males identified themselves as gay or lesbian in 2016 compared with 0.7% of females. Conversely, 0.9% of females identified themselves as bisexual compared with just 0.6% of males. Overall, a larger proportion of males (2.3%) identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) than females (1.6%)

Source ONS

Thanks for that red. Of course, it doesn't quite make sense anymore. The 'males' that are identifying as lesbians could be TW, or they could be TM.

Thanks for all the info

‘Males identifying as lesbians’ makes me want to headbutt a wall.

The percentages ‘identifying’ in my local secondary school are MUCH higher than those that red toothbrush has just posted. Is there any research into the differences? Are straight teenagers identifying as LGBT to be cool or woke? Or are LGBT adults identifying as straight because society is still more homophobic than it should be?

Agree popcorn. It was interesting that the ons stats didn't seem to explore trans identity at all. So from that you might assume that you have trans lesbians in there too.

Aren't there are significantly more mtfs than ftms too?

My point here is should the BBC be reflecting society or going further than that? Going further is a political act which is always going to be controversial. There are also lots of arguments about how in terms of diversity, the BBC is clearly already scoring pretty high internal on being favourable to LGBT recruitment and working. Areas such as class, the sex pay gap and ethnic representation are still seem a lot further behind where the LGBT stuff is. Why do you push and promote where you are doing OK? Remembering that this in itself means weaker areas are neglected.

It's hardly getting away from the white male middle class thing.

But why?