The BBC has removed a lesbian porn star’s quotes from its controversial article on the transgender community after she called for trans women to be ‘hanged’ and ‘lynched’.
The BBC has faced fierce backlash for its piece, ‘We’re being pressured into sex by some trans women’, published on October 26.
The story quotes several cisgender lesbian women who speak out about being shamed for not wanting to have sex with trans women.
They told the BBC being pressured to ‘accept the idea that a penis can be a female sex organ’ is a ‘huge problem’ for them.
Women said ‘the pressure comes from a minority of trans women, as well as activists who are not necessarily trans themselves’ but the article has widely been dubbed ‘transphobic’.
More than 20,000 people signed an open letter, demanding the BBC take the story down, saying ‘the clear implication is that transgender women as a minority group pose a threat to cisgender lesbians, and should therefore have their rights restricted in the UK’.
But the BBC has stuck by its work, saying it believes the story ‘deals with a matter worthy of investigation’ and it has a responsibility to be impartial and ‘cover stories on any point of the spectrum of debate’.
Now, it has come out that one of the women quoted in the story, Lily Cade, has written three blogposts, seen by Pink News, calling trans women ‘pedos’ and calling for their killing.
Ms Cade wrote: ‘Trans women are men! Trans women are the weakest, vilest, most pathetic men on Earth, too weak to even kill themselves rather than control the horrifying shadow monster they are grooming your children to serve’.
She went on: ‘If you left it up to me, I’d execute every last one of them personally.’
She then called for the lynching and ‘gang rape’ of famous trans women, including New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard and US mixed martial artist Fallon Fox.
She said: ‘Cancel the ever-living f**k out of this. Cancel this so hard that no man dare walk the path of the trans woman in public ever again! Enough is enough.
‘Lynch Kaitlyn! Lynch the “Sisters” Wachowski! Lynch Laurel Hubbard! Lynch Fallon Fox!’
In a different post, Ms Cade wrote that trans people should be ‘killed… as is the duty of the man to protect the women and the children from pedophile pervert monsters’.
The BBC took Ms Cade’s quotes out of the article on Thursday, ‘in light of the comments’ the broadcaster was able to verify.
The BBC also admitted the original piece should have included information about Ms Cade owning up to ‘inappropriate behaviour’ with other women.
Ms Cade, who worked in the porn industry for 10 years, was famous for only ever having sex with women.
She told the BBC she backed out of a scene with a trans woman after finding out her gender identity online.
The BBC quoted several other women with similar stories but said it could not find a trans woman with an opposing view who would agree to speak to the outlet.
Metro.co.uk has contacted the BBC for comment but was not able to contact Lily Cade for comment.
One BBC source reportedly told The Guardian the broadcaster had received 4,819 complaints about the story whilst also getting 5,520 approval letters.
BBC editors previously published this mass response: ‘We have received a wide range of feedback from those who find the article challenging as well as those who welcome its publication.
‘The article was carefully considered before publication, went through a rigorous editorial review process and fully complies with the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards.
‘Some argue that the article is flawed because it is “based on a survey of 80 people”. The article itself states there is little research in this area; that 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.
‘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. But the article is more than just the survey.’
The letter continued: ‘The journalist’s work involved months of speaking to many people about the topic and the article includes testimony from a range of different sources and provides appropriate context.
‘As a public service broadcaster we explore a wide range of issues and perspectives. And we believe it deals with a matter worthy of investigation.
‘We have a strong commitment to impartiality, which means we constantly consider and evaluate which stories to cover and how.
‘Impartiality is fundamental, and includes covering stories on any point of the spectrum of debate. And stories should be seen not just individually, but in the broader context of our wider coverage.
‘The piece has prompted many complaints and many appreciations and we will consider all feedback carefully.’
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