Parents condemn BBC’s educational film describing 100 gender identities The Times 29.01.21

The original article is here.

The BBC has withdrawn an educational video, which informed children that there were more than 100 gender identities, after complaints from parents.

The corporation said that the film, which was aimed at children aged between nine and twelve, had been “retired” from its Teach website.

Campaign groups representing parents concerned about the rise of transgender diagnoses among children had criticised the assertion about gender as “made-up nonsense” that would confuse young people.

In a statement announcing the video’s removal the BBC blamed the media for “wilfully misrepresenting” the material.

The film had been produced as curriculum support for personal, social and health education (PSHE) teachers.

At one point a boy asks: “What are the different gender identities?”

A PSHE teacher called Kate explains: “”We know that we have got male and female, but there are over 100, if not more, gender identities.”

The video attracted controversy in 2019 but faced renewed scrutiny this week amid the greater use of the BBC’s educational content during lockdown.

The corporation said that the film was only on the BBC Teach website — a service for teachers — and was not part of its lockdown programming nor was it intended to be used independently by pupils. The BBC said: “The content was clearly labelled as requiring advance viewing by teachers and came with extensive notes to support and guide teachers in their use of it when discussing topics that are part of the primary curriculum in England.”

Last summer the BBC dropped transgender charities from its advice line for viewers, saying that questions relating to children were “increasingly contested” and it needed to remain impartial.