BBC - reply to complaint

[EverydayImJuggling]

Did anyone else finally receive a response if they complained to the BBC about the Puberty Blockers article on their website a few weeks back?

This is the reply I received:

Thank you for getting in touch about our article 'Puberty blockers: Parents' warning as ruling challenged' (www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55369784) and please accept our apologies for the long delay in our response.

You may since have become aware that the article was amended shortly after publication.

These changes are summarised in a note at the end of piece, including that the opening line has been amended to make clear that the NHS gender identity service has not appealed against the High Court ruling but is seeking leave to do so. A paragraph was also added to provide further background information on GenderGP and links to the BBC Action Line have been included.

The article sought to highlight a potential issue among some young people, including first-hand testimony from them and their parents, following the recent High Court ruling regarding the use of puberty blockers.

The justification and rationale behind the judgement in the Bell v Tavistock case was clearly represented near the top of report through a quote from the ruling by one of the three judges, Dame Victoria Sharp.

This was not, however, an article that examined the finding in the detail, nor the differing opinions surrounding it, rather it was to report on the views of those who say they have been affected by it, and their path to appeal.

We have of course reported in detail on the finding in our direct coverage of the case, including extensive interviews with those who backed the ruling, including Keira Bell who has appeared on a number of our broadcast outlets.

We recognise that this is a contentious area, with contrasting viewpoints on our coverage, and we are committed to reflecting a wide range of perspectives across our output as a whole and over an appropriate timeframe, so that no significant strand of thought is under-represented or omitted. We will, of course, continue to do this in regards to this issue.

Thanks again for contacting us.

Kind regards,

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

Is there a thread anywhere where we are compiling evidence of the BBC’s biased reporting and general treatment on this issue? If not, maybe we should pull one together...

And when you start making 'indulge me behaving like a silly twit and play acting' something you call 'inclusion' you devalue the concept. And stomp all over the people who actually need inclusion, for real reasons. People are starting to roll their eyes and get turned off when they hear that word, and it's down to piss takers who see it as their opportunity to make other people indulge them.

Sorry for the rant. Getting really pissed off with all this now.

And we haven't even got on to "fishy"

I'm so thoroughly sick of drag being on the front page of the BBC every damn day. Not even anything to do with the ins and outs of feminism, I'm just tired of the schtick

Me too!

One of the characters in the new series is called A Whora Nothing misogynistic about that at all. Just good fun, and of course, an important part of gay male culture.

I'm so thoroughly sick of drag being on the front page of the BBC every damn day. Not even anything to do with the ins and outs of feminism, I'm just tired of the schtick

do any commercial channels show drag shows? Or is it just something the BBC promotes to educate the nation?

@MichelleofzeResistance

The one on Master Chef drove me batty. Wear whatever you want, great. Present however you want, great. Do you, ignore the stereotypes.

But expect people to actually call you Bagga Chips and whoffle about giggling over how girly and flappy and silly you are and I really cannot be bothered with you or your ridiculous, insulting ideas on women that you're play acting. Grow up ffs. Women don't tolerate other women behaving like girly prats, stop expecting women to make exceptions for males doing it.

That prompted me to think of the stooshie over females working as drag queens, which led to a google, which threw up this amazing paragraph:

'The term "faux queen" is rejected and considered outdated by many drag artists for implying that AFAB drag queens are not as "real" as cisgender male drag queens,[4][5][6] and the terms "bio queen" and "female queen" are considered by many performers to be transphobic as they imply that a transgender (MTF) woman who performs as a drag queen is not female and that a transgender (FTM) man is.[7][8] Other descriptions include "biologically challenged" drag queen, "female female impersonator",[9] or "female impersonator impersonator."[10]'

So. Alles klar.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faux_queen

www.bbc.co.uk/contact/ecu/puberty-blockers-parents-warning-as-ruling-challenged-bbccouk

Complaint upheld

Good. This is Important.

The finding was reported to the Board of BBC News and discussed with the editorial team concerned. The article has been amended to reflect the finding.

Good to see that the initial responses have been overridden. Hopefully editors have got the message that playing fast and loose with opinions about suicide (especially in relation to children) is no longer an option for them.

Yeah, I don't agree with the BBCs slant on trans kids, but drag isn't Blackface and please stop saying that. It's really not equivalent.

This is excellent news. Hopefully the BBC will stop reporting in such a one sided fashion.

@IfNot

Yeah, I don't agree with the BBCs slant on trans kids, but drag isn't Blackface and please stop saying that. It's really not equivalent.

There are significant differences but all analogies are approximate to greater or lesser extents. No x-face coinage is quite like blackface, but shutting down those expressions denies the reality they reflect. Drag is womanface: it takes the piss out of women when men exaggerate feminine stereotypes.

Dismissing the analogy out of hand can belittle the true extent to which women are oppressed by patriarchal societies.

Good news, let's hope it's taken to heart by the editorial team.

Drag is womanface - it’s insulting to women and if done as Drag Queen Story Time it is used to openly mock women in front of their children. It is being pumped via prime time tv into you and your children so you accept and get used to seeing men mocking women, dressed as women. It’s just another weapon in the war on women.

but drag isn't Blackface and please stop saying that. It's really not equivalent

Hmm...

White men sticking on makeup and clothes that represent white men's stereotype of black men, and dancing around in stereotype of black people basically mocking them, all the while politically and economically oppressing black people. BAD.

Men (of any ethnicity) sticking on makeup and clothes that represent men's stereotype of women, and dancing around in stereotype of women basically mocking them, all the while politically and economically oppressing women. A-OK.

Drag is like Blackface - yes, so obvious when you put it like that. GNCQ's comparison rings true. Why is to condemn Blackface now the only way to go but to giggle at drag is having 'fun'. It is at the expense of womanhood.

A reader complained??

This is magnificent:

'The term "faux queen" is rejected and considered outdated by many drag artists for implying that AFAB drag queens are not as "real" as cisgender male drag queens,[4][5][6] and the terms "bio queen" and "female queen" are considered by many performers to be transphobic as they imply that a transgender (MTF) woman who performs as a drag queen is not female and that a transgender (FTM) man is.[7][8] Other descriptions include "biologically challenged" drag queen, "female female impersonator",[9] or "female impersonator impersonator."[10]'

This exquisite display of pinhead dancing really brings out the lunacy of it all. I particularly like "female impersonator impersonator" because that description is honest, straightforward and just what the thing, and the whole of the thing, is.