“Make pro-trans articles without any discussion of women!” Sensitive details released from the newsroom, revealed by the Telegraph

The management of the BBC “disregarded” warnings about the positive perspective in which the media group presented information about trans people taking part in women's sports disciplines.

Journalists at The Telegraph revealed that female employees had repeatedly raised the issue over the years about how they were required to present gender-sensitive topics to the public.

BBC Sport criticized for over-supporting topics promoting transgender women

BBC Sport bosses were told almost five years ago that stories about transgender sports were often uncritical and even laudatory, although the impact was potentially negative on women's sport and the merits of women playing in it.

Imane Khelif // photo: Guliver/gettyimages

However, insiders claim that BBC executives have insisted on promoting positive content about these controversial athletes – those who were born male but compete in women's events because they are 'transgender'.

These individuals include Lia Thomas (swimming, who is biologically male), Laurel Hubbard (weightlifting), Austin Killips (cycling) and Imane Khelif (boxing).

The BBC employees also complained that the news produced by the trust where they worked talked about biological men using the phrase “transgender woman”, a practice that confused gender with sex and defied the BBC's own editorial rules.

The same employees claimed that they felt ignored and that they could not express their dissatisfaction.

The management of the BBC resigned after a scandal that had US President Donald Trump at the center

All these behind-the-scenes revelations at BBC Sport came to light after Tim Davie, the director-general, and Deborah Turness, the chief executive, resigned following “serious and systemic problems”, exposed by a whistleblower.

Among these serious problems was the truncating of a speech by Donald Trump. Speaking on behalf of a section of BBC staff, the whistleblower also said he feared that “the LGBT newssphere has been hijacked by a small group of people intent on promoting the pro-trans agenda, but not other perspectives.”

Those who leaked information about this internal scandal hope that these controversies will change the culture inside the BBC.

BBC Sport is currently a department headed by Alex Kay-Jelski, heavily criticized for a 2019 article in The Times in which he wrote that former tennis player Martina Navratilova, nine-time Wimbledon champion, and former Olympic medalist swimmer Sharron Davies, both vocal opponents of biological men competing against women, were not experts on the participation of trans people in sports.

Kay-Jelski compared those who consider trans athletes “a threat to the sport” to racists who warned: “Don't let black men in the same stores as white men because they will rape your women.”

His appointment to BBC Sport in 2024 was contested by several figures, including Harry Potter author JK Rowling, and Kay-Jelski said at the time that he would put those views aside.

However, other institutions in Great Britain have reacted against the participation of trans people in women's sports events. The English Football Association decreed, at the beginning of this year, that transgender women can no longer play in the women's championship, a decision also taken over by the management of the rugby union.

The International Olympic Committee is also on the verge of banning the participation of trans people in women's competitions, using the most scientific reasons possible.

A BBC spokesman said: “We always take feedback into account and BBC Sport will always bring the public a range of perspectives that respect our editorial guidelines. We can't say more until our accusers provide evidence for their claims.”