The BBC has finally removed a resource for children aged nine to twelve which claimed there are over 100 ‘gender identities’.
‘Understanding Sexual and Gender Identities’, a video that forms part of the BBC’s The Big Talk series, was available on the BBC Teach website until last week. It told children that gender is “who you are inside”, but that sex is whether you are born a boy or a girl.
When asked what the different gender identities are, a Relationships and Sex Education teacher said: “There are so many gender identities. So we know we’ve got male and female, but there are over 100, if not more, gender identities now.”
Retired
While the BBC did not direct parents or children towards this material, it remained online despite guidance issued by the Department for Education (DfE) last year which told schools to exercise caution when teaching about gender issues.
there are over 100, if not more, gender identities now
In response to complaints, the corporation surprisingly claimed the resource was being “wilfully misinterpreted by parts of the media” before adding: “we have made the decision to retire this film”.
The Christian Institute’s Education Officer John Denning said: “The BBC should not have used its teaching materials for schools to peddle controversial, evidence-free theories as if they were objective facts.
“Schools are forbidden from doing so: as a publicly-funded broadcaster with a duty of impartiality, it’s hard to see how the BBC can hold itself to a lower standard in the school resources it produces. But it’s good to see this resource has finally been removed.”
‘Celebrate’
Other controversial videos in the same series have also been removed from the broadcaster’s Teach website.
‘Respecting Myself and Others’ told children they must respect and celebrate “what it means to be gay”, and that people could go to prison if they were “disrespecting” transgender people.
Elsewhere in the same video, Leo Lardie, a transgender activist and RSE teacher, commented that people who were critical of transgender ideology “just don’t know any better yet”.
In another video in the series, ‘Different Families, Same Love’, which focused on same-sex couples with children, teachers did not explain that such couples cannot have children naturally.
‘External agencies’
In September, the DfE told schools in England they must not use gender stereotypes to tell children they might be transgender, and teachers were also told to present equality issues in a balanced way.
On transgenderism, the guidance says: “You should not reinforce harmful stereotypes, for instance by suggesting that children might be a different gender based on their personality and interests or the clothes they prefer to wear.
“Resources used in teaching about this topic must always be age-appropriate and evidence based.
“Materials which suggest that non-conformity to gender stereotypes should be seen as synonymous with having a different gender identity should not be used and you should not work with external agencies or organisations that produce such material.”
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