BBC 'pauses' staff training workshops on transgender and LGBTQ+ issues following Supreme Court ruling
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15184833/BBC-pauses-staff-training-workshops-transgender-LGBTQ-issues.html"The BBC has paused training workshops for its workers on transgender and LGBTQ+ issues as it investigates how the corporation should correctly use the word 'sex'.
Two DEI - or diversity, equality and inclusivity - courses have now been put on hold following a Supreme Court verdict on women's rights.
Judges deemed in April this year that the term 'sex' in the Equality Act should stand for biological sex rather than self-identified gender - in a ruling welcomed by campaigners including Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
Now a Freedom of Information request has led to the BBC revealing two in-house workshops ought to be 'paused' to make sure all language and references are in keeping with the Supreme Court's findings.
The two courses, called 'LGBTQ+ Allies' and 'Trans Insights', have been removed.
Another two inclusivity initiatives have reportedly been amended, with references to pronouns and gender 'self-identification' taken out of the schemes called 'BBC and You' and 'Inclusive Leadership'.
The LGBTQ+ Allies programme pledged to help employees 'learn more about LGBTQ+ identities and experiences' and 'discuss ways that you can step up as an active ally to the LGBTQ+ community'.
The licence fee-funded BBC's 2024 diversity strategy stated: 'We are proud of the progress that has been made, but we know we have more to do to ensure we truly represent the audiences we serve, particularly in the areas of ethnicity and disability.
The BBC has suspended training workshops for staff on trans issues - as it investigates how the corporation should correctly use the word 'sex'
The BBC has suspended training workshops for staff on trans issues - as it investigates how the corporation should correctly use the word 'sex'
'We also know that the labels we're using to set these workforce goals may not represent the way in which everyone chooses to describe themselves.
'These groupings are important to hold ourselves to account, report on our progress and ensure we're focused on dismantling the barriers that are experienced by people from different backgrounds.
'We're also looking at how we represent and reflect our audiences more widely, for example, ensuring our LGBTQ+ staff, faith groups and people of different ages feel a sense of belonging at the BBC.'
Susan Smith, from campaign group For Women Scotland, criticised what she called 'the level of capture which gender identity ideology has achieved in the purportedly unbiased BBC'.
She said: 'Our only surprise is that there were just four courses which gave rise to concerns - we also wonder if the corporation offered training for "allies" on any other protected characteristic.
'We hope that they will come clean about the extent of this training and move urgently to ensure that staff are apprised of the realities of the law so that they can adhere to the Supreme Court ruling and ensure better, fairer reporting on this subject.'
A BBC spokesman has now said: 'We are not rowing back on our inclusivity training – we have simply paused two of our courses while we await final guidance from the Government following the Supreme Court ruling.
'Once we have this, we'll ensure our training and the language it uses are updated to meet any legal obligations.
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'We have assessed where "sex" and "gender" are referred to across HR policies and training and we identified four training courses where there are references to "sex" and "gender". We have implemented changes as a result.
'We fully intend to comply with the law once guidance has been approved by Government, while ensuring that we provide facilities that respect the needs and rights of all staff and visitors to our buildings.'
The corporation said references to pronouns in the two amended courses had been removed 'for simplicity' and that staff were not being 'instructed' by the 'voluntary training material' but it was made available 'to increase awareness and understanding'.
The Supreme Court handed down a judgment in April this year that trans women are not legally women - saying that, in the 2010 Equality Act, the definition of the term 'women' relates only to biological women."
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