Bimini slams BBC’s article about lesbians ‘pressurised into sex by some trans women’
"Drag Race UK gets renewed for a fourth season by the BBC and in the same breath they are pushing an anti-trans agenda"
Words: Alastair James; pictures: Kit Oates
Drag Race UK’s Bimini has called out the BBC over an article it published this week titled ‘we’re being pressured into sex by some trans-women’.
The report has received a colossal backlash after citing a survey of 80 lesbians, of which 56% of respondents said they have been “pressured or coerced to accept a trans woman as a sexual partner.”
Comedian Rosie Jones and Stonewall co-founder Lisa Power are among those to have also criticised the broadcaster over the article, which the Beeb has defended.
“This is unacceptable”
In a Twitter thread, the breakout star of Drag Race UK series two said: “Drag Race UK gets renewed for a fourth season (amazing!) by the BBC and in the same breath they are pushing an anti-trans agenda. This is unacceptable.”
Drag Race UK gets renewed for a fourth season (amazing!) by the BBC and in the same breath they are pushing an anti-trans agenda. This is unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/7dVuAlNKEk
— BIMINI! (@biminibabes) October 27, 2021
Bimin, who is non-binary, also said she is “eternally grateful for the opportunities I have been given and the BBC played a huge part in that.”
But she went on to say that she can’t watch “the media create a moral panic around an already incredibly vulnerable part of my community.”
Bimini added that she hopes the BBC understands the impact of the article, describing it as being similar to tactics used in decades past against gay people.
“History is repeating itself,” she said.
I hope that the BBC can understand how alarming this article is and the damage it can and will do to further regress the steps made to live in a more open society. These are the same tactics that they used against homosexuals. History is repeating itself.
— BIMINI! (@biminibabes) October 27, 2021
She then highlights harrowing statistics regarding trans people and violence against them, also providing a credible source.
Transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault, according to a new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.
— BIMINI! (@biminibabes) October 27, 2021
In its defence of the article, the BBC said in a statement to Attitude that it had gone through its “rigorous editorial processes” and that “the BBC is here to ensure debate and to make sure a wide a range of voices are heard.”
Recently, Vice News reported transphobic hate crimes had quadrupled over the last six years, with 598 in 2014-15 and 2,588 in 2020-21.
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