The open letter asks for the BBC’s apology for the trans article

More than 16,000 people signed an open letter asking the BBC to apologize for an online news article about trans and lesbian women.

The piece, released Tuesday, cited lesbians who felt “pushed into sex by some trans women.”

The letter described the article as “incredibly dangerous” and claimed to have used a “deeply flawed study”.

The BBC said it must “secure debate and ensure that a wide range of voices are heard.”

It is understood that the BBC also received a number of compliments from members of the public on the article in addition to complaints.

The open letter was released earlier this week by a campaign group called Trans Activism UK.

“The implications proposed by this article suggest that transgender women generally pose a risk to cisgender lesbians in large enough numbers to be noteworthy, and something that the general public should view as a common occurrence rather than a matter of isolated experiences. and incredibly rare, “the letter reads.

“It is vital that the BBC, which is a government approved public service which claims to be committed to achieving impartiality with the output of its content, rectify this act with sincere apologies, modify the article to clarify the falsehoods and harms inside, and is committed to realigning with their original mission statement. “

In response, a BBC spokesperson said: “The article examines a complex topic from different perspectives and acknowledges that it is difficult to gauge the scale of the problem.

“It includes testimonials from a number of different sources and provides appropriate context. It has gone through our rigorous editorial processes.

“It is important for journalism to look into issues, even where there are strongly entrenched positions. The BBC is here to ensure debate and to ensure that a wide range of voices are heard.”

In the article, reporter Caroline Lowbridge explained that she explored the problem after several people contacted her about pressure to “accept the idea that a penis could be a female sex organ,” adding that she wanted to find out how much it was. widespread the problem.

The women cited in the piece claimed to have received backlash for claiming that they are only attracted to biologically female women.

The article attracted both praise and criticism on social media, and the article was trending on Twitter after publication.

“The BBC released one of the most insidious, disgusting and toxic anti-trans bits ever”, said Ryan John Butcher of Pink News.

But the hashtag #IStandWithLesbians has also started trending and Shahrar Ali of the Green Party said it was a “insightful article not for the faint of heart, admirably exploring points of view from all sides.”