BBC is re-issuing guidelines advising staff not to attend Pride ‘protests’ -TGN

The BBC has advised its news staff to consider not going to Pride events that could be seen as a protest, in a bid to remain “impartial” on LGBTQ+ issues, in guidelines shared with staff this month.

The guidelines have been condemned by broadcaster employees, with one of them telling PinkNews that the guidelines “don’t do” LGBTQ+ employees.

The guidelines, seen by PinkNews, follow the BBC’s first advisory against BBC news and actual staff attending Pride ‘protests’ in 2020.

The BBC Pride Guidance, which was sent to staff in early July 2023, states: “Staff in news and factual journalism should consider whether or not the particular Pride parade or march they wish to attend presents or is likely to present an overt protest or campaign position.”

If the events are likely to lead a third party to believe that staff cannot report impartially on a particular topic, it is recommended that they not attend and inform a manager if they intend to do so.

The BBC tells PinkNews there is no ban on staff attending Pride events.

A BBC source, who wishes to remain anonymous, criticized the guidelines, telling PinkNews that BBC bosses “do not fully understand LGBTQ+ issues and the impact they have on staff”.

‘A diabolical lack of confidence in the leadership’

The source accuses senior management at the BBC of not understanding Pride or what it means to be “LGBTQ+ in modern Britain”.

“Our existence has become inherently political and celebrating our identity with others from our community should not be considered controversial simply because our community is at the center of a moral panic,” they add.

“It has not escaped anyone’s attention that this guide came out around the same time that Pride was celebrated in London with the theme ‘trans allyship’.

PinkNews understands that the document was sent to senior managers on Monday (July 3), just days after Pride was held in London and just days before the capital hosts London Trans Pride on July 8.

The theme of this year’s Pride in London protest was ‘Never March Alone’, in support of the trans community.

The BBC source continues: “Recent staff survey results showed a diabolical lack of confidence in the organisation’s leadership and senior management, and this will – for many staff – serve as further evidence that they are ill informed, out of touch with staff and most importantly out of touch with what the public wants from the BBC.”

In October 2020, Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie, said introduced the guidelines on Pride in addition to strict social media rules.

Davie said at the time that journalists could attend Pride parades if they didn’t “take a stand on politicized or contentious issues”.

The guideline states: “BBC news and current affairs staff and some actual contributors, as set out in the guidelines, are not allowed to participate in public demonstrations or meetings on controversial issues.”

Davie said that staff outside news, current affairs and factual journalism could attend marches, demonstrations and protests as private individuals.

He said those working in said newsrooms “may attend community events that are clearly celebratory or commemorative and do not detract from the perception of their impartiality.”

‘Every time I walked through the BBC doors it was a protest’

Journalist and announcer Shivani Dave, who is non-binary transgender and worked at the BBC in 2020 when the rules around news staff attending Pride events were first introduced, describes the guidance as “appalling”.

“When this was introduced as a ‘guideline’ to BBC staff in 2020, it was a clear indication that it was being deployed to prevent BBC News staff from expressing their support for transgender people,” they tell PinkNews.

“BBC News had created their own arbitrary line about what parts of identity were and were not political by suggesting if the Pride event was a ‘party’ for people to attend, but not if it was a ‘protest’.”

“I worked at an organization where being trans was treated as controversial, every time I walked through those doors it was a protest – and a celebration. It’s an appalling state of affairs when the national broadcaster is so invested in a culture war that even the suggestion that transgender people deserve respect and dignity can ruffle the feathers of BBC News.

A BBC News spokesperson told PinkNews: “We have long had guidelines for staff, including attendance at marches, parades, demonstrations and protests, and this latest clarification has been produced at the request of our staff network, BBC Pride.

“Our impartiality guidelines are there to protect BBC journalists and the BBC, and as we have made clear in the past, there is no ban and never has been a ban on staff attending Pride events.”

Despite claims that the BBC has guidelines to maintain impartiality, the broadcaster came under fire in March 2023 after Gary Lineker was removed from broadcasting. Match of the day after the host compared the language used in the government’s new asylum policy to 1930s Germany.

Lineker’s tweets were deemed a violation of the BBC’s regulations about “maintaining our impartiality on social media”.