London Trans+ Pride organiser claims BBC dropped interview over ‘celebration’ wording (EXCLUSIVE)
According to EM Williams, the interview was set to go ahead until the BBC's description of the event became a sticking point
By Callum Wells
A London Trans+ Pride organiser has claimed a planned BBC interview was dropped after they refused to describe the annual march as a “celebration” rather than a protest.
Speaking at the launch of this year’s London Trans+ Pride, organiser EM Williams recalled being invited to be interviewed by BBC Radio ahead of the event around two years ago.
According to Williams, the interview was set to go ahead until the BBC’s description of the event became a sticking point. “They [the BBC] were like, ‘I think it’s just kind of a celebration, isn’t it?'”
“I mean, it was disappointing, sure. Was I that surprised? No” – EM Williams on their cancelled BBC Radio interview
Williams said they immediately pushed back, replying, “No, it’s a protest.”
Explaining why they refused to use the word “celebration”, Williams added: “The theme is literally ‘Pride is a protest’. This has come off the back of Black trans people, trans folks who started the Pride in London that you support and, you know, do massive splashes across all of your websites and things. So yeah, ‘Pride is a protest’ is our theme.”
Williams, a voiceover artist, said they even offered to pre-record an interview from their home studio, but the interview never happened.
“I mean, it was disappointing, sure. Was I that surprised? No,” they said.
“They’ve let themselves down” – Williams on the BBC’s coverage of London Trans+ Pride
Williams went on to criticise the broadcaster’s coverage of London Trans+ Pride.
“The only time I know that we have been mentioned as London Trans+ Pride is in relation, as a footnote, to Tommy Robinson’s march of the same day.”
They continued: “We’ve invited them. We have this interview with me set up. We start outside their building.”
Williams also accused the broadcaster of failing to remain impartial. “As much as the British Broadcasting Corporation says they like to remain impartial – because people really do see them as a stalwart, like a kind of bastion of, like, ‘We will be able to get trustworthy, resourced, researched news from this source across the world’ – they’ve let themselves down,” they told Attitude.
“They are showing their bias, and it’s very apparent” – Williams on the BBC
“I think that’s not only in terms of our identity, but in a lot of different global conflicts that are happening around the world currently.”
“They are showing their bias, and it’s very apparent, and it’s why a lot of trans folks and gender nonconforming folks will no longer have a TV licence because they do not trust the BBC to be impartial anymore.”
The BBC told Attitude it could not find a record of the matter and had been unable to identify any relevant references based on the information provided. It said that, without further details, it was unable to comment on the specific issue.
The broadcaster also said that any coverage decisions would be made closer to the time, in line with editorial priorities and available resources, adding that last year’s London Trans+ Pride was covered on the London index, with images featured on Saturday TV and across weekend radio bulletins.