The BBC reports on the BBC report on the BBC involvement with Stonewall.

Governments, Ofcom and the BBC have had their impartiality questioned after involvement in the lobby group’s diversity schemes.

A number of high profile organisations have left Stonewall’s schemes in recent months amid growing controversy about the influence of the group on public policy.

Stonewall says it works for LGBTQ equality and that it is “deeply disappointing” that this can still be thought of as controversial.

See that’s just the usual obfuscating they do by treating L and G and B and T as all one thing, as soup instead of shot [pellets]. No, lesbian equality and gay equality are not being treated or thought of as “controversial,” the issue is the T part. The T is not the same, and should be discussed separately.

The podcast reveals that a senior figure in the Diversity and Inclusion department described Stonewall as “the experts in workplace equality for LGBTQ+ people” in internal correspondence, in response to questions about the BBC’s Allies scheme.

Concerns have been expressed about Stonewall being regarded as “the” experts, given the diversity of opinion among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people over Stonewall’s policies.

And over a great many other things. Yes, exactly – who died and made Stonewall god? Nobody.

The department runs an “Allies training” course, which was set up in conjunction with Stonewall, to provide guidance to staff. In an Allies training meeting, BBC trainers used language and material around sex and gender which is contested. The “genderbred person” – a graphic used by groups like Stonewall to explain sex and gender issues – was presented to staff, with no alternate views presented.

An incredibly childish graphic used by groups like Stonewall to explain sex and gender issues to grown-ass adults. It’s cringe as well as wrong and stupid.

The Nolan Investigates podcast understands that the Diversity and Inclusion department had a role in the drafting of the latest BBC News style guide around issues of sexuality and gender. The style guide sets a standard for the language used by BBC News, often in contested areas.

The document defines homosexuality as “people of either sex who are attracted to people of their own gender”. This is similar to the definition used by Stonewall, and different from the standard dictionary definition, in that it defines attraction as based on gender rather than sex.

And in doing so it’s engaging in this familiar campaign of coercing people gay and straight to fuck people according to gender not sex.

Sam Smith, an investigative journalist who left the BBC recently after working there for 25 years, told the podcast she thinks that some people within the BBC are frightened to speak out to say what they really think about Stonewall.

It would be strange if they weren’t frightened.

She says: “The trouble is the impartiality element of this, for people who do not agree with Stonewall’s campaigning position on the gender identity issue, it is not nice for an organisation to align itself with Stonewall and Stonewall’s mission”.

She said she had queried the BBC’s use of “political” and “campaigning” language but was told “the BBC had checked this with Stonewall and Stonewall were fine they were fine with it and therefore the BBC was fine with it”.

Great. Perfect. So if I’m beating someone around the head with a bottle, and that someone tells me to stop, I just say I’ve checked with Stonewall and they’re fine with it, and I get to carry on with the beating.