The BBC has published an article by Deborah Cohen on the NHS puberty blocker trial that is due to begin in 2025. In this article, Cohen quotes a member of conversion therapy activist parent organisation Bayswater Support Group as a neutral source.
The article is heavily weighted with those opposing trans healthcare for children and young people. It quotes WPATH, yet all of the other medical opinions are from those opposing the use of hormonal treatments. The section on parent opinions includes an academic whose research involves parents of young trans people, but no quotes from supportive parents themselves.
Whilst we disagree with much of the opinion quoted, it is the inclusion of Bayswater Support group that Trans Safety Network are most concerned about. It is our view that the BBC should not be engaging in campaign journalism that misrepresents sources in this way.
The source from Bayswater Support group describes the organisation as “a collection of parents with children who are questioning their gender who say they are "wary of medical solutions to gender dysphoria"”. This is a wholly inaccurate representation of the organisation that leaves out important context about the nature and aims of the group and its indisputable promotion of conversion therapy.
Bayswater Support Group are a conversion therapy parent group operating under the guise of a support group for parents of trans children. The organisation's internal forums were exposed earlier this year which uncovered evidence of parents preventing their children from accessing Childline, mental health resources and rape crisis centres for fear of those services affirming their children's gender identity. Parents in the forum openly admitted to destroying or damaging their children's belongings, such as accessories and clothing, behaviour that constitutes domestic abuse. Bayswater support group still link to a DIY conversion therapy manual on their website.
It is extremely misleading for the BBC to have failed to mention this in their article, instead allowing a member to present the organisation as a support group for parents who have concerns or doubts about the best approach to their trans children's healthcare. For a trusted institution such as the BBC to lend credibility to a conversion therapy organisation’s claims of being a mere support group is dangerous and highly irresponsible. This could lead worried parents to be directed towards conversion therapists or to be recruited and encouraged to abuse their trans children.
If you would like to complain to the BBC for including and misrepresenting this dangerous source you can do so here.