BBC removes trans charities from support page

[teawamutu]

From Penis News, but hopefully this link won't give them revenues:

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200710172219/www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/07/10/bbc-gender-identity-support-mermaids-lgbt-transgender-non-binary/" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20200710172219/www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/07/10/bbc-gender-identity-support-mermaids-lgbt-transgender-non-binary/

[ScrimpshawTheSecond]

It's not just that there's the absence of approval. It's the withdrawal of approval that matters.

[OneEpisode]

You two are clearly right.. they are so upset about thus aren’t they!

[OldCrone]

OneEpisode They're targeting the parents. The NHS and the BBC are 'respectable' organisations which parents might turn to for advice when their child declares that they are transgender. A signpost to Mermaids from either of them gives Mermaids a stamp of respectability by association. First the NHS and now the BBC no longer giving Mermaids free publicity must be impacting their supply of new converts.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Is it all a proxy fight for the Children In Need cash?

It's a desperate shoring up of the sandcastle as the tide comes in...

The BBC is a legitimate organisation that is well known and respected. They gave that legitimacy to mermaids by advertising them on their website as an appropriate charity in that niche.

[ncGCFeminist]

thisfucker "I really wanted to ask Disgusted from Manchester if it was better thanTunbridge Wells."

I'm a bit late to the party but 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[OneEpisode]

I don’t really understand the importance to these organisations...

I can see why they think the NHS website is important, but how important is the BBC website to Gen Z/A children and their (millennial?) parents? My dd would never use the BBC website.

Is it all a proxy fight for the Children In Need cash?

[Datun]

@KingFredsTache

The thing is, this obviously wasn't a spur of the moment decision by the BBC - they know what's going on with these organisations, they are reporting on it.

I can imagine someone at the BBC sidling up to Mermaids and saying in hushed tones through gritted teeth 'er, guys, it's because ya keep shouting about experimenting on kids with off label drugs, it's really not a good look, ya need to tone it down a bit!'

Exactly.

They've just made a programme which explicitly said trans organisations are in conflict with with Tavistock in trying to push forward medical treatment that they don't agree with.

And the Tavistock aren't even toning it down enough for the programme. So God knows what they think of the 'trans organisations'.

The BBC broadcast the programme, so now they have to abide by its conclusions.

I don't get what it is they're not understanding.

[KingFredsTache]

The thing is, this obviously wasn't a spur of the moment decision by the BBC - they know what's going on with these organisations, they are reporting on it.

I can imagine someone at the BBC sidling up to Mermaids and saying in hushed tones through gritted teeth 'er, guys, it's because ya keep shouting about experimenting on kids with off label drugs, it's really not a good look, ya need to tone it down a bit!'

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Aaand... Mermaids have finally got a statement up on their page: mermaidsuk.org.uk/news/lgbtq-complaint-to-the-bbc/

(A joint complaint letter signed by the usual suspects)

[Binterested]

BBC Women's Network

Even if there is one they will have been brow beaten into accepting the BBC’s favourite kind of woman. I can’t ever call the BBC Auntie again

[stumbledin]

Personally I suspect not so much a new DG but someone in their legal team eventually thought oh dear newsnight says something dodgy is going on and we are listing it as a support service. It will just be covering their backs.

But on the other hand I had not idea there was a BBC Pride Network - is it just possible that there is a BBC Women's Network and they have been challenging the trans rabbit hole the BBC seems to have gone down.

[stumbledin]

Just posting this to show the Pink News BBC Pride Network(?!) take on this ie its all about "hate" not about whether the services listed are fit for purpose.

--
The BBC has been accused of bowing down to “deliberate and orchestrated hate campaigns” after dropping trans charities covering England, Scotland and Wales from its Action Line website.
The BBC’s Pride network told members this week that the trans charities have been dropped due to “audience complaints” relating to the “increasingly contested issues relating to trans issues and children”.
“It is a complex area and the BBC needs to remain impartial,” BBC Pride said in an email.
Leading charities Mermaids, The Gender Trust, and The Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) provide vital support and advice for trans, non-binary and gender-questioning people.
On 7 July, the three trans charities – alongside the LGBT+ Foundation – were quietly dropped from the BBC’s “Gender identity: information and support” page. This came soon after senior MPs and LGBT+ activists branded the BBC “institutionally transphobic“.
Days later, the LGBT+ Foundation was reinstated to the BBC Action Line “LGBT Issues” page – but the three trans-specific charities have apparently been permanently removed without explanation.
Lui Asquith, head of legal and policy for the trans-support charity Mermaids, condemned the BBC for removing the trans charities “at a time of growing transphobia in wider society”.
They continued: “The real victims in this are the trans and gender diverse people who need support and help and this decision further isolates and ostracises those vulnerable individuals.
“We are clear: trans people are here and we are not going anywhere, even if the BBC want to bow down to deliberate and orchestrated hate campaigns. It is a disgrace that the British public service broadcaster has used a false representation of ‘balance’ to validate transphobic claims.
“To date, the BBC have dealt with this opaquely and we call for transparency urgently and as a matter of public importance.”
Mermaids has sent a Freedom of Information request to the BBC, demanding to know who was responsible for the decision to remove the trans charities, and for copies of relevant correspondence between the Women at the BBC staff network and BBC Pride staff network.
BBC Pride, which on 15 July said it had spent a week trying to find out the “rationale” for removing the information about the charities from the BBC Action Line website but admitted it still did not know, emailed members on 27 July about the removal of the trans charities.
“As you know we’ve been finding out about the decision to change the links to gender identity resources on the BBC Action Line website since the previous ones were taken down on 7 July,” the email reads.
“Updated links are now on the LGBT Issues Action Line page. We have spoken to Action Line and Editorial Policy, who advise Action Line, about the rationale behind this and they are happy to share their thinking.
“A decision to look at the gender identity information line was taken following audience complaints about the action line. This was against a backdrop of increasingly contested issues relating to trans issues and children. It is a complex area and the BBC needs to remain impartial when signposting audiences to organisations that can offer appropriate advice.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We understand this issue is hugely important for some audiences so our Action Line LBGT Issues page links to gender identity information on the NHS website, which also links through to additional relevant resources.”
www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/07/30/bbc-pride-trans-hate-campaign-mermaids-action-line-transphobia-gender-trust/

This is the link to the Mermaids tweet mentioned in the article twitter.com/Mermaids_Gender/status/1288738973574193152?s=20

[OhHolyJesus]

I agree with JamieLee you could well be onto something there Ova, lets see if there is a change in news output (the website in particular) and programming from Sept onwards.

If Tim would do well to request a report from the complaints team to assess what the most common complaint was, for which area and for what reasons...just saying Tim, if you're browsing...

Davie has Tory party links and his wiki page was updated 5 days ago, with changes to bit...

[bishopgiggles]

His first press statement talks about impartiality and I think promotion of Mermaids and similar orgs crosses a line when you consider what the investigative journalists from Newsnight have been uncovering.

I'd like to think so but I think 'impartiality' is the biggest criticism aimed at the Beeb from all sides so one they'd be keen to be seen to be 'doing something' about.

[WhatKatyDidNot]

Hopefully if they get loads of FOIs about this they will decide it is in the public interest to make a statement / publish the results.

I think that's likely to make them less likely to respond in any way. The BBC has always brushed as much as possible under the rug and if it thinks everyone is watching, it'll be pull up the drawbridge time.

[Thisfucker]

@Ereshkigalangcleg

Made the times

Some great comments and all the sunlight you could wish for!

I really wanted to ask Disgusted from Manchester if it was better thanTunbridge Wells.

[Datun]

Endorsing an organisation that promoted a doctor who was suspended for running an illegal drugs clinic, might, I imagine, be the sort of thing that would trouble the BBC in terms of 'impartiality'.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Hopefully if they get loads of FOIs about this they will decide it is in the public interest to make a statement / publish the results.

[JamieLeeCurtains]

I do hope you're on to something there, @OvaHere

[OneEpisode]

mermaids have said they have done a FOI but can anyone find it? OldCrone posted www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/minutes_from_meeting_resulting_i earlier, which lists all the removed orgs, including Mermaids.
I thought it interesting that the sign/off was:

“Yours faithfully,

Adi Daly-Gourdialsing [Pronouns: She/Her]
Gendered Intelligence GIANTS Spokesperson/Head of Patient Services at GenderGP“

The Giants thing is probably voluntary genderedintelligence.co.uk/projects/GIANTS

But the charity has allowed themselves to be associated with the Webberleys and GenderGP?
Is this standard?

[OvaHere]

Apologies if this has been mentioned. Wondering if anything significant has changed recently in the BBC structure I did a search and found this from June.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/05/bbc-appoint-tim-davie-new-director-general-replace-lord-hall/

The BBC has promoted its commercial chief to the role of director-general, as the corporation faces up to a future with a reduced licence fee and growing competition from US rivals.

He takes up the role officially from September.

This stood out. He was the guy who mopped up after Saville.

Davie is considered a safe choice and one who has previously proven himself in a crisis: in 2012 he stepped in as acting director-general when George Entwistle was forced to quit over the Jimmy Savile scandal.

A coincidence? Perhaps. Reading between the lines it sounds to me like he is being promoted to be a 'troubleshooter' for the BBC on a number of different fronts and getting ahead of issues is probably a small part of that.

His first press statement talks about impartiality and I think promotion of Mermaids and similar orgs crosses a line when you consider what the investigative journalists from Newsnight have been uncovering.

[thehumanformerlyknownasfemale]

Someone on that thread is under the impression it's illegal not to.

Was that the tweet saying it's discrimination against gender reassignment under the EA?

Funny how the EA is so relevant when it affects them. What about sex based rights being dismissed by countless organisations? Where are they stamping their feet about that?

[JamieLeeCurtains]

@MoltenLasagne

It's also a misrepresentation of why we've raised concerns about Mermaids though. The major concern is they are promoting regressive sex stereotypes and giving untested drugs to gender non conforming children. Especially as this disproportionately impacts gay and autistic children.

Yes, there are also concerns that the wider TRA community are pushing for things that impact on women's rights but that is very much secondary when it comes to Mermaids.

Yes. Those bloody drugs - the irreversible effects - the surgery ...

Or maybe it's the inevitable litigation they're most worried about?

Looking forward (iykwim) to the FoI response.

[MoltenLasagne]

It's also a misrepresentation of why we've raised concerns about Mermaids though. The major concern is they are promoting regressive sex stereotypes and giving untested drugs to gender non conforming children. Especially as this disproportionately impacts gay and autistic children.

Yes, there are also concerns that the wider TRA community are pushing for things that impact on women's rights but that is very much secondary when it comes to Mermaids.

[ScrimpshawTheSecond]

Ta, Mermaids. Looking forward very much to the results of the FOI.