The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-14)

The Sunday Times November 14, 2021 V2 13

NEWS

The BBC’s head of news told LGBT staff

that they must get used to hearing views

they disagreed with as the corporation

faced accusations from its own employ-

ees that it was “institutionally trans-

phobic”.

Fran Unsworth, who is due to leave the

corporation in January, was speaking on

an often-hostile Zoom call with the BBC’s

Pride network on Friday morning.

The meeting, in which Tim Davie, the

director-general, also tried to reassure

staff that he was concerned about LGBT

inclusivity, was held in the wake of the

corporation’s departure from Stone-

wall’s diversity champions scheme,

under which it paid for advice and assess-

ment from the charity.

Critics of the BBC’s participation in the

scheme argued that it ran contrary to its

commitment to impartiality because of

Stonewall’s lobbying on transgender

issues.

Two sources who attended the meet-

ing said Unsworth, 63, told staff: “You’ll

hear things you don’t personally like and

see things you don’t like — that’s what the

BBC is, and you have to get used to that.”

She added: “These are the stories we tell.

We can’t walk away from the conver-

sation.”

A BBC journalist said: “Fran was totally

calm but determined about it. She was

reacting to questions from the network

that implied people shouldn’t come

across views they disliked. To me, it felt

like she was having to explain journalism

to idiots.”

Davie and Rhodri Talfan Davies, the

BBC’s director of nations, who was also

on the panel, also defended a recent arti-

cle by the reporter Caroline Lowbridge,

who interviewed lesbian women who felt

“pressured and coerced into accepting

trans women as partners”. The article on

the BBC News website caused a furore

both inside and outside the corporation,

with more than 16,000 people signing an

open letter demanding the BBC apolo-

gise. The pair are understood to have said

that it was a good piece of journalism,

with the caveat that a quotation had had

to be removed after publication.

A BBC source added that the meeting

was “extremely hostile” towards Davie,

54, who was previously chairman of a les-

bian, gay and bisexual working group at

the BBC. “He was told by one member of

staff that he was not in a position to make

decisions on this issue, because he’s not

trans,” the source said. “Another said the

BBC was institutionally transphobic.”

Davie told LGBT staff he would listen

to their views, that he was concerned by

the idea that LGBT staff were leaving the

corporation over its policies and that it

was a priority to make them feel comfort-

able at work.

A culture war has long been simmering

in BBC newsrooms over its handling of

transgender issues. Some staff, especially

younger employees, argue that the rights

of the minority group should not be

debated; others believe that the BBC had

become in thrall to Stonewall and jour-

nalists were not allowed to challenge the

charity’s views. The latter group, many of

whom are older female staff, believe that

some of the policies transgender cam-

paigners advocate infringe upon

women’s rights, such as the right to

single-sex spaces including refuges.

Some said they felt unable to express

such views at the BBC. “If you mention it,

it’s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers:

everyone goes quiet and their faces go

blank. Since Wednesday, conversations

are already a lot freer,” one added.

BBC chief tells staff: Get used

to hearing views you don’t like

Rosamund Urwin

Media Correspondent

The corporation faces

dissent in its ranks after

its withdrawal from the

Stonewall diversity

scheme last week

Ben Hunte, a former LGBT corre-

spondent for the BBC who now works for

Vice News, wrote last week that LGBT

employees at the BBC were leaving over

its reporting on transgender issues. The

BBC is interviewing for a replacement for

Hunte.

The next front in this culture war is

expected to be the corporation’s style

guide for journalists.

In it, “homosexual” is defined as a per-

son who is “attracted to people of their

own gender”, which matches Stonewall’s

advice, rather than “their own sex”. It

also says journalists must use the pro-

noun “preferred by the person in ques-

tion”. The BBC has published articles in

which sex offenders who were born male

but identify as transgender women were

repeatedly referred to as “she”. The BBC

said the guide “is produced by BBC News

who take all decisions on its content”.

It added: “The BBC has regular staff

meetings, and this meeting was con-

structive and useful.”

Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s

outgoing head of news, told

staff: “We can’t walk away

from the conversation”

A doll that allows children to

remove its “failed face” and

fix its “hair disaster” is

promoting harmful messages

to girls, campaigners claim.

The #Failfix dolls are sold

on Amazon and in shops

including Smyths, Hamleys,

the Entertainer and Tesco

and encourage children to

“take over the makeover”

after the doll tried an “online

beauty tutorial” that went

wrong.

Aimed at children aged six

and over, the dolls are quoted

on the box saying “Nuh-uh, I

can’t be seen like this” and

“My cutie buns are botched

and my make-up is a flop”.

A spa mask can be applied

to the doll’s face and, when

removed, it pulls the “messy”

faceplate off with it, revealing

perfect make-up beneath.

They have provoked a

backlash from parents. One

wrote on Twitter: “Hideous

messaging. ‘Hey girls, if you

don’t try hard enough, you’re

failing to be pretty.’” Another

wrote: “They are ugly until

they are fixed by a magic

facemask and new outfit.”

Felicia Willow, chief

executive of the Fawcett

Society, which campaigns for

gender equality, said: “It’s

disappointing that sexist

stereotypes persist and

reinforce the notion that

women and girls are valued for

their looks above all else. It’s

about time toy manufacturers

and retailers woke up and

dragged themselves out of the

dark ages.”

Some jumped to the dolls’

defence on social media. One

wrote: “The dolls had a bad

make-up day and need help

fixing it. Message? It’s OK to

mess up and ask for help:

always brush your hair.”

They are made by Moose

Toys, an Australian company.

It has previously said: “Moose

Toys most certainly do not

create toys with a view to

discriminate against or

stereotype anyone. FailFix is

all about the transformation

of a failed makeover not a

failed person.”

Mattel, the US toy

company behind Barbie, has

been trying to shed its

reputation for perpetuating

gender stereotypes with a

more diverse range of dolls

including an astronaut, a

marine biologist, a firefighter

and a pilot Barbie.

Editorial, page 24

Louise Eccles

Consumer Affairs Editor

Makeover dolls

with ‘failed face’

spark outcry

A FailFix doll

before and

after its

“makeover”

11,000 Afghans still

stuck in hotel limbo

As many as 11,000 Afghans

evacuated to Britain are

understood to still be in

hotels, according to a source

working closely with the

Home Office.

Bed and breakfasts and

hotels were supposed to be

“bridging accommodation”

while rescued families found

a permanent home. But more

than three months on from

Operation Pitting, when the

RAF airlifted thousands from

Kabul, the majority still have

no access to school or work.

The government has been

quiet about the exact number

of Afghans in hotels since

September when parliament

was told it was 7,000. Last

month concerns over data

prompted the deployment of

soldiers across the country to

conduct a census. It found

the number of rescued

Afghans in hotels is around

11,000, according to a source

working on the response.

The source said the

situation “is still pretty

rubbish” and that “very few

of the children are in school”.

Nazir, 41, was an

interpreter for the Royal

Marines in Helmand province

for nearly three years. Since

August he has been in a hotel

outside Milton Keynes with

his wife and their seven

children, aged 2 to 16.

The only education his

children are getting is two

hours of informal language

and cultural lessons a day and

he says their mental health is

suffering: “Every night my

children ask me about school.

I keep saying, ‘After

tomorrow, after tomorrow.’”

A government

spokeswoman did not deny

the 11,000 figure quoted by

the source. She said: “We are

working hard to ensure

Afghan families evacuated to

the UK receive the support

they need to rebuild their

lives, find work, pursue

education, and integrate into

local communities.”

Emily Dugan and

Hugo Daniel