The BBC has defended an article which some campaigners claimed was transphobic.

The article featured interviews with lesbians who said they have been pressured into having sex with trans women.

The broadcaster said in a statement that the article had prompted “many complaints” and had been branded “transphobic and poorly evidenced”.

The piece, published last week, questioned whether a lesbian is “transphobic if she does not want to have sex with trans women”. It included comments from a number of lesbians who said they have been criticised for this.

The article also included a social media survey of 80 lesbians, of which 56 per cent said they had been pressured or coerced to accept a trans woman as a sexual partner.

‘Wide range of feedback’

An open letter to the BBC from campaign group Trans Activism UK, which was signed by more than 20,000 people, criticised the article.

It said the piece “dangerously frames” lesbians being pressured into sex “as a widespread issue”.

In a statement on Monday, the BBC said it had received “a wide range of feedback from those who find the article challenging as well as those who welcome its publication”.

It added that while some have argued the piece is flawed because of the inclusion of a survey with a small sample size, the “article itself states there is little research in this area”.

The statement, published on the complaints section of the BBC website, said the article stated “the survey featured was conducted on social media and is therefore self-selecting; and even the author of the survey admits it may not be a representative sample”.

It added: “Furthermore, there is a link to the detail of the findings which enables the reader to make up their own minds about the replies the sample generated.”

The broadcaster added that the article “went through a rigorous editorial review process and fully complies with the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards”.

It said the article, which took months of work, “deals with a matter worthy of investigation”.

Links to Stonewall criticised

The article after one of the broadcaster’s own investigative reporters criticised the corporation’s links to Stonewall and said that staff were too “frightened” to speak out about gender issues.

Stephen Nolan claimed that “there is a fear factor” among his colleagues at the BBC, who disagree with the broadcaster’s alignment with the charity. 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the journalist said: “We’ve received communication from senior people within the BBC, outside the BBC, who are frightened of speaking about this issue.”

Stonewall, which was founded in 1989 to campaign for LGBT rights, has been the subject of controversy in recent months amid mounting concern about the group’s influence on public policy.

A number of high-profile organisations and government departments have severed ties with it and have withdrawn from its diversity scheme.