Complaint
The programme included an interview with the sister of a trans woman who had taken her own life. A listener complained that the interviewer had used language which was “campaigning and activist”, particularly by referring to the dead person as “a young woman” and using feminine pronouns and the phrase “assigned male at birth”. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of impartiality.
Outcome
The use of “young woman” and feminine pronouns did not imply that the BBC took a position in the controversies surrounding gender identity, but simply reflected the BBC’s policy of respecting the terms in which trans individuals prefer to be described (as the law provides for), and the phrase “assigned male at birth” was intended as a neutral description of what had in fact occurred. While recognising that there are some contexts in which such terminology can be controversial, the ECU considered that their use on this occasion would not have led listeners in general to conclude that the BBC was endorsing one viewpoint on a controversial matter.
Not upheld