United Kingdom

BBC staff who are required to be politically neutral have been told not to attend LGBT pride protests under new impartiality rules announced on Thursday, i has learned.

David Jordan, the corporation’s director of editorial policy and standards, told a meeting of senior executives on Wednesday that the new rules include not attending “political protests”, such as Black Lives Matter events and LGBT protests.

According to sources, there was pressure to extend the ban to pride events over concerns the BBC could be seen to take a side in the debate around transgender rights.
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Staff were told that attending pride can be acceptable if it is seen as “a celebration”, but in cases where it is a protest, such as with the “trans issue”, as it was described, the rules on impartiality apply.

A non-binary staff member later questioned “what you mean by the trans issue”. Management clarified that they hoped their shorthand choice of words had not caused offence.