The BBC has apologized for interviewing a transgender athlete who bragged about knocking out women in a discussion about women-only sports.
Fallon Fox, an American former martial arts fighter, was invited to the BBC Radio 4’s Today program last month trans athletes were barred from women’s elite races if they went through male puberty.
The new policy from Fina, the swimming world’s governing body, will also aim to establish an “open” category for swimmers of birth sex other than their gender identity.
But the BBC came under fire for failing to inform listeners that Ms Fox, 46, had bragged about violence against Terfs — a slur that stands for trans-exclusive radical feminist — in a trans row on Twitter in 2020.
She had tweeted: “For the record, I knocked out two. One woman’s skull was broken, the other was not. And just so you know, I enjoyed it. Look, I love to cage TEFS (sic) talking transphobic bullshit. It is bliss!”
Ms. Fox, now retired, became the first openly trans mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to be born male in 2013, sparking debate at the time as to whether she had an unfair advantage.
The Radio 4 interview sparked a response from protection activists sports categories for women for athletes born as women, not for men who identify as women.
The fighter appeared on the show alongside Karen Pickering, an ex-GB swimmer.
‘We would have done the interview differently’
Fair Play For Women, a women’s sports campaign group, wrote to BBC bosses to complain that “Fox should never have been booked and an on-air apology is required”.
This week, the company climbed, with the BBC Complaints Unit saying it was “unaware of previous comments from Fallon Fox” and if it had, “we would have conducted the interview differently”.
The BBC told the group in a letter: “We have discussed your concerns with the responsible team and we would like to apologize for this oversight.”
It comes after Justin Webb, the Radio 4 host who conducted the interview, responded to critics last month by insisting he had “no idea” about Ms. Fallon’s comments “and neither did the producers”.
But campaigners took the apology as a reprimand for “wake up” Radio 4 producers.
dr. Nicola Williams, director of Fair Play For Women, told The Telegraph: “If you knew Fallon Fox was a trans fighter, you’d know what Fallon Fox had said.
“It’s either the wake producers didn’t do the basics with research, or they couldn’t care less. This apology means nothing unless they also provide an on-air clarification – they need to exercise due diligence on this subject by real to attract experts, not just transgender people for the sake of it.
It comes as the Telegraph reported earlier this month how some BBC radio workers had been told there were more than 150 genders and to develop their “trans brand” by adding pronouns to email signatures, leaked in diversity training by a whistleblower.
Shortly after the swimming ban, the British triathlon became the first sport in the UK to ban trans athletes from competing in the female category at both elite and grassroots levels, allowing other sports to follow suit.
Sharron Davies, the Olympic swimming medalist, told the Telegraph: “I am incredibly frustrated with science deniers taking advantage of social media being given airtime. The BBC needs to do better.”
The BBC was contacted for comment.