BBC Chief Tells Staff the Broadcaster Is "Not an Anti-LGBTQ+ Organisation"
BBC director general Matt Brittin told staff that the broadcaster is "not an anti-LGBTQ+ organization". He said it at an internal town hall on Thursday, where he was asked at least a dozen questions about how the BBC handles LGBTQ+ issues and content.
The director general is the BBC's top executive. A town hall is an open staff meeting, and this one was held in response to a run of recent decisions that some employees see as a step back for queer and trans people.
The biggest flashpoint was a row over removed symbols. In October, the BBC digitally removed LGBTQ+ pride flag pins worn by contestants on University Challenge, the quiz show hosted by Amol Rajan. On Strictly Come Dancing, the broadcaster blurred out the trans rights slogan "Protect the Dolls" on the T-shirt of Bethany Antonia, the House of the Dragon actress who competed on the series.
During the meeting, a BBC employee compared those moves with the broadcaster's insistence that presenters wear Royal British Legion poppy badges, which honour members of the armed forces. Another employee questioned the BBC's decisions to cancel RuPaul's Drag Race UK and I Kissed a Girl/Boy, a queer dating show. That employee said the choices were damaging to LGBTQ+ staff.
Audio of the meeting, obtained by Deadline, has Brittin saying: "We are definitely not an anti-LGBTQ+ organization, and we want to be inclusive of everyone." He also pointed to the BBC's work to roll out anti-semitism and anti-Islamophobia training for employees.
Deadline also reviewed a staff comment on the matter that asked whether the BBC was hypocritical and anti-LGBT. The comment received more than 100 upvotes, which on the internal forum counts as likes from colleagues.
The questions were put to the director general in the room. For viewers, the issue is simple to state. Decisions about what appears on screen, and what gets cut, are now being debated openly by the people who make the programmes.
For the staff in that room, the matter is personal. Several of the questions came from people who work on LGBTQ+ programming or who identify with the community. They asked for clearer reasons behind the choices, and they did not get a full answer on the day.
