“BBC ‘ignored’ pro-trans bias in sports stories”

The Olympics are moving towards banning transgender women from competing in women’s sport. It seems they received “medical evidence” showing being born a male gives you physical advantages (*open mouth*?!) against women in women’s sport.

And ... how was the BBC approaching this subject, you might wonder?

See below for answer ... (esp. Mr Kay-Jelski (boss of BBC Sports) and the JK Rowling spat: “He highlighted evidence which found there was “little to no difference” in performance between transgender women and their female peers”.)

Can the BBC change?

I think it may be too late - it’s far too homogenous now & too much esprit de corps.

They’re part of a bubble who back the same things - back Labour, Hamas/Palestine, against Brexit, trans activism, total adherence to DEI, and everyone who disagrees is some sort of nasty racist.

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BBC ‘ignored’ pro-trans bias in sports stories
Female staff raised concerns about uncritical reporting on transgender athletes almost five years ago, messages reveal
By Craig Simpson & Oliver Brown
11 November 2025 6:00am GMT

BBC bosses “ignored” warnings about pro-transgender bias in its sports coverage, The Telegraph can reveal.

Messages seen by The Telegraph reveal that female staff repeatedly raised concerns over several years about the nature of reporting on gender issues.

BBC Sport bosses were told almost five years ago that stories about trans athletes were often uncritical and celebratory “puff pieces”, while glossing over any potentially negative impact on women’s sports.

However, insiders claim that the BBC persisted with overwhelmingly positive coverage of otherwise controversial athletes, including Lia Thomas, the biologically male swimmer, the weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, the cyclist Austin Killips and Imane Khelif, the boxer.

Concerns were also raised about biologically male athletes who were referred to as transgender “females”, a practice that appeared to confuse sex for gender and to go against the BBC’s own style guide.

BBC staff have reported feeling ignored and feeling unable to voice opinions that went against the prevailing orthodoxy of affirming transgender identity ...

BBC Sport is currently led by Alex Kay-Jelski, who faced criticism for a column he wrote for The Times in 2019 while he was the newspaper’s sports editor.

In the piece, he wrote that Martina Navratilova, the nine-time Wimbledon champion, and the Olympic swimming medallist Sharron Davies, both vocal opponents of allowing biological males to compete in women’s categories, were “not experts” on the matter of trans participation in sport.

Mr Kay-Jelski appeared to compare those who portrayed trans athletes as being “threatening” to racists who warned, “Don’t let black men in the same shops as you or they’ll rape your women”.

Following widespread criticism of his appointment as BBC Sport director in 2024, including from the Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Mr Kay-Jelski said he would leave his views “at the door”.

While some have expressed frustration with the BBC’s position on transgender issues, other institutions have responded to concerns raised about participation in women’s sports.

Earlier this year, the Football Association ruled that transgender women would no longer be able to play in women’s football in England, and the Rugby Football Union voted to ban trans women from full-contact women’s rugby union.

The International Olympic Committee is also moving towards banning transgender athletes from all female competition following a science-based review of evidence.

A BBC spokesman said: “While we always listen to feedback, BBC Sport has and always will report a wide range of views and perspectives in line with our editorial guidelines. We are unable to say more without further evidence of the points you are putting to us.”