The BBC has chastised an arts correspondent for making a’misleading’ remark about JK Rowling’s gender identification ideas.
On March 24, Tom Sutcliffe said on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row that JK Rowling’s critical perspective on whether transgender women are women is’very unpopular.’
There have been 584 complaints about the journalist, and the BBC’s complaints office has stated that there is no evidence that Rowling’s viewpoint is in the minority.
‘In the ECU’s opinion, it was legitimate to discuss JK Rowling because she featured in the interviewee’s book (a fact reflected in Mr Sutcliffe’s question),’ the Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said in a ruling.
‘In terms of comparing her case to others, the ECU noted that Mr Sutcliffe did so in the context of distinguishing between expressing thoughts (as JK Rowling had done) and performing illegal acts, and that he did so in a way that was neither hurtful nor disrespectful.
‘However, the ECU acknowledged that Mr Sutcliffe’s reference to a’very unpopular opinion’ was possibly deceptive because, while it had certainly proven unpleasant to some, there was no conclusive proof that the objectors represented a majority.’
Sutcliffe was interviewing Erich Hatala Matthes about cancel culture at the time.
Rowling features in a book that Matthes wrote about the phenomenon.
Attorney General Suella Braverman has praised JK Rowling for her views on the transgender issues as she says schools should not have to pander to pupils who see themselves in a different birth gender.
The Tory minister said the Harry Potter author was a ‘heroine’ for campaigning for female only spaces for those born women and added that schools should be able to treat all children by their birth gender.
She said schools should not address trans pupils by their chosen pronouns or permit them to wear a school uniform of a different gender.
And she added that since those aged under 18 cannot legally change their gender, schools are entitled to treat all children by their birth gender.
The Attorney General also told The Times that Rowling, who has come under fierce criticism for her views on gender, is ‘very brave, very courageous’ and she is on ‘her side’ on the trans issue.
It comes as fresh Labour infighting broke out over trans issues as the party chair contradicted a fellow MP on whether ‘some women were born with penises’.
In an interview, frontbencher Anneliese Dodds was challenged over whether she agreed with Stella Creasy.
‘Well, no, I don’t agree with her. Biological females obviously aren’t, of course there are also trans-women who have made the transition in their gender but sex is not the same as gender,’ she told Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday.
‘But I would say that obviously I have a huge amount of respect for my colleague, Stella Creasey, she has done a huge amount of campaigning for women but on that issue around biology, I do have a different opinion.’