A BBC chief told LGBT staff they will ‘hear things they do not personally like’ and they ‘have to get used to that, it has been reported.
Fran Unsworth from the BBC’s news department told staff that employees must be able to hear opinions and not agree with them during a meeting.
She said it as she answered questions about why people shouldn’t come across opinions they don’t like during Zoom calls on Friday.
Ms Unsworth, who is set to leave her position in January, also told staff that these were the stories the corporation told to the public and they ‘could not walk away from the conversation’.
The meeting also proved to be ‘extremely hostile” for Tim Davie (director general BBC), who expressed concern that LGBT employees were fleeing the BBC because of its Zoom call policies, The Sunday Times reports.
After the BBC’s announcement that they had been the latest to discontinue Stonewall’s Diversity Champion program, Friday’s meeting was held.
Fran Unsworth from the BBC, head of news, said to employees that they should be able to hear opinions which are not theirs.
Stonewall offers advice on creating an inclusive workplace for LGBT employees through the Diversity Champions program. Companies can sign up to this programme and pay Stonewall for their assistance.
But it has been recently mired in controversy after its Chief executive Nancy Kelley claimed ‘gender critical’ beliefs – the belief that a person’s biological sex cannot be changed – were like anti-Semitism.
A source told The Sunday Times that Ms Unsworth told staff: ‘You’ll hear things you don’t personally like and see things you don’t like — that’s what the BBC is, and you have to get used to that.’
One person added: “Fran was completely calm, but determined about it.”
“She was responding to network questions that suggested people should not come across opinions they don’t like.”
During the meeting Mr Davie, who was previously chairman of a lesbian, gay and bisexual working group at the BBC, told staff he would listen to their views and said it was a priority to make them feel comfortable at work.
However, he was informed by an employee that he wasn’t in a place to decide on the issue because he’s trans.
MailOnline received this statement from a BBC spokesperson: “The BBC holds regular staff meetings, and this meeting proved constructive and valuable.”
BBC confirms it is withdrawing last week Stonewall’s Diversity Champion program.
The scheme was abandoned by Ofcom and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
BBC spokeswoman said that the BBC was fully committed to becoming an industry-leading employer in LGBTQ+ inclusion. Our lesbian, gay and bisexual colleagues are our proudest and we encourage them to pursue fulfilling careers at BBC.
Recent announcements by the BBC revealed that they have become the latest LGBT charity to drop Stonewall’s Diversity Champion programme.
Eight major organizations have resigned from the Stonewall Group’s scandalous scheme
BBC’s imminent departure follows other programs, including the one that Ofcom discontinued.
“The BBC participated, together with other UK employers in Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme. We are aiming to make our workplace more inclusive.
“However, our involvement in the Programme over the years has caused some to wonder if the BBC is impartial when reporting about public policy discussions where Stonewall plays an active part.
“After much consideration we have decided to withdraw from the Diversity Champions Program and also will no longer be participating in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index.
“Being part of Diversity Champions Programme does not require the BBC to support Stonewall’s campaigns or its policies.
‘As a broadcaster, we have our own values and editorial standards – these are clearly set out and published in our Editorial Guidelines. The Royal Charter as well the Ofcom Broadcasting Code govern us. As always, our journalists report from a wide range of angles on stories.
“The BBC won’t renew its participation in Diversity Champions Programme. However, we will work in the future with many external organizations, such as Stonewall on projects that support our LGBTQ+ employees.
Stonewall declared that it was a’shame’ that BBC has left the programme, along with a harsh statement: Many of today’s arguments against transpeople are simply rehashed homophobia from the 1980s and 1990s.
“We can all recall being told that homosexual people were predators and queers were dangerous in single-sex areas.
“That was not true for lesbians, gay people, or bisexual people back then and that is not true now.
Matthew Parris (a journalist and ex-MP who founded Stonewall in 1989) this year claimed that the group had become ‘tangled in the trans issue and cornered into an extreme stance.
VICE News received a report from a BBC source saying that they couldn’t permit Stonewall’s organisation to connect to them in any way. The BBC must be open to LGBT people.
“So our current plan is quietly to withdraw from the scheme and not renew their membership. It’s really scary to see LGBT workers being cut off.