AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
- The BBC said it has withdrawn from Stonewall's Diversity Champions Programme.
- It is a workplace initiative to ensure that LGBT staff are supported in their jobs.
- In a Wednesday statement, the BBC said the decision was made because it threw its impartiality into question.
The BBC said it cut ties with the UK's largest LGBTQ-rights charity in an effort to appear impartial.
In a Wednesday statement sent to Insider, the BBC has said that its participation in the Stonewall's Diversity Champions Programme has "led some to question whether the BBC can be impartial when reporting on public policy debates where Stonewall is taking an active role."
The program is a workplace-policy initiative to ensure that LGBT staff are supported in their jobs.
The disaffiliation from the programme comes as the BBC is increasingly criticized for platforming hatred against the LGBTQ community.
For example, a recent BBC article entitled "We're being pressured into sex by some trans women," sparked criticism for framing the trans community in a negative light, whilst not interviewing any trans women in the piece.
And in January 2020, the BBC's Arabic news site aired homophobic slurs, for which the BBC apologized in 2021, Pink News reported.
In the Wednesday statement, the BBC said it was nonetheless "fully committed to being an industry-leading employer on LGBTQ+ inclusion."
"After careful consideration, we believe it is time to step back from the Diversity Champions Programme and will also no longer participate in Stonewall's Workplace Equality Index," the broadcaster said.
"Being a part of the Diversity Champions Programme has never required the BBC to support the campaigns of Stonewall, nor its policy positions. As a broadcaster, we have our own values and editorial standards - these are clearly set out and published in our Editorial Guidelines. We are also governed by the Royal Charter and the Ofcom Broadcasting Code. Our journalists continue, as ever, to report a full range of perspectives on stories."
In a statement to Insider, Stonewall said: "It's a shame that the BBC has decided not to renew their membership of our Diversity Champions programme, but as with all membership programmes, organisations come and go depending on what's best for their inclusion journey at the time.
"We will continue to engage with the BBC on a number of fronts to champion support for LGBTQ+ colleagues and to represent our communities through their reporting. It is shocking that organisations are being pressured into rolling back support for LGBTQ+ employees."
"Ultimately, it is LGBTQ+ people who suffer," it said.
VICE World News originally reported that this policy change was impending, with insiders at the BBC telling VICE that they were "super scared" by the implications of this decision.