Former BBC Journalist Reveals She Was Reprimanded Over ‘Cisgender’ Post

A pedestrian is reflected in the glass facade while walking past the BBC Headquarters at the Broadcasting House in central London on Oct. 6, 2022. Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

A former BBC journalist has revealed she faced a disciplinary ordeal after posting on social media that science doesn’t support the idea of two types of women, male and female.

Cath Walton, who was with the BBC for 20 years, said she was reprimanded by the broadcaster over accuracy and impartiality around sex and gender.

Writing in The Critic, Ms. Walton said that about two years ago her post on X, formerly known as Twitter, led to hearings over an alleged breach of the BBC social media rules.

Concerned with the adoption of “activist language” by journalists, Ms. Walton tweeted about the use of the term “cisgender.”

Her post explained that “using “cis” involves accepting a belief system that there are “two types of women, male women and female women, and this is as yet scientifically unsupported.”

What followed, according to Ms. Walton, was a continuous follow-up by her superiors, who said she was breaching the BBC social media rules and had to delete the tweet.

Her bosses weren’t “able to explain which part of the thread was untrue, and therefore might fall into the error of opinion,” said Ms. Walton.

Even though she agreed to remove the post, Ms. Walton said she didn’t express any opinion in her message, which would go against the impartiality guidance by the broadcaster.

“I was told to admit to managers that I’d been wrong and would never do it again, or the disciplinary would proceed. This wasn’t just policing of public speech, which is part and parcel of everyone’s contract. It was a demand that I internally confess my wrongthink, and repent,” Ms. Walton said.

She argued that “biological sex has officially become a mere ‘viewpoint.’”

Controversial Area

Ms. Walton’s remarks come after a complaint about comments, made by the BBC Today presenter Justin Webb, has been upheld by the corporation.

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) said that Mr. Webb broke impartiality rules when he used the phrase “trans women, in other words, males” during a discussion on new guidelines by the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Released last year, the guidelines FIDE introduced a ban on trans women competing in female-only events.

Commenting on the wording used by Mr. Webb, the BBC said that “it could only be understood by listeners as meaning that trans women remain male, without qualification as to gender or biological sex.”

Even if it was unintentional, it gave the impression of endorsing one viewpoint in a highly controversial area, the ECU added.

New Guidelines

Last year, the BBC published a new rule book on individual use of social media by its staff members and flagship presenters.

The overhaul was partly prompted by the a row over Gary Lineker’s social media posts, critical of the government policy on illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel.

According to new BBC guidelines, flagship presenters are free to express their views on social media but should stop short of endorsing or attacking political parties.

Presenters are also banned from taking up an official role in campaigning groups.

While the BBC said it acknowledged “the importance of freedom of expression,” it stressed the employees’ obligation to stay clear of undermining the broadcaster’s reputation and impartiality.

“We all have a responsibility to treat people with civility and respect, particularly at a time when public debate and discussion, both on and offline, can be so polarised,” BBC Director-General Tim Davie said.

He called the new guide “proportionate and fair.”

Touching on the controversial discussion of gender identity, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that society shouldn’t be “get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be.”

“A man is a man and a woman is a woman, that’s just common sense,” Mr. Sunak said in a closing speech at the Conservative Party conference last year.

His comments were deemed “inflammatory” by critics, including Chris Northwood, Manchester’s first trans councillor.