Dame Jenni Murray dismisses backlash to her claim that ‘trans women are not real women’ as a ‘bit of a kerfuffle’
Dame Jenni Murray appeared on Loose Women and reiterated her “transphobic” views. (ITV)
Dame Jenni Murray, until recently the host of BBC Radio 4’s “Woman’s Hour”, appeared on Loose Women Thursday (12 November) to reiterate her “transphobic” view that trans women are not “real” women.
Appearing virtually on the talkshow, Jenni Murray was asked about a “transphobic” Sunday Times article she wrote in 2017, in which she suggested that trans women can never be “real women” because they could experience male privilege before they transition.
Recalling the backlash, she doubled down on her stance, saying: “Oh the trans question, yes I did write an article saying that I did believe in biology and that there are two sexes and that you’re either male or female.
“So if you are a trans woman, you deserve to be respected and not to be bullied or used badly in any way, but at least acknowledge that it’s different from someone that was born a woman. So yes, that cause a bit of a kerfuffle.”
Outrageous comments on #TransRightsAreHumanRights repeated again by Jenni Murray on @loosewomen No come back from the panel on this either! Would they stand for this if they had a racist on the show? @AttitudeMag @gaytimesmag @ITV— John Wilson-Marks 🦕🦖 (@jgsm1984) November 12, 2020
Jenni Murray rehashing her old transphobia! #LooseWomen— Maaaaaaaaark!! (@ThisIsMarksLife) November 12, 2020
Viewers were dismayed that the former “Woman’s Hour” host, 70, was “rehashing her old transphobia” on daytime TV, with one asking: “Would [the panel] stand for this if they had a racist on the show?”
Dame Jenni Murray was slapped with an impartiality warning by the BBC after ‘transphobic’ Sunday Times article.
Jenni Murray’s 2017 column in the Sunday Times magazine was titled “Be trans, be proud – but don’t call yourself a ‘real woman'”.
She claimed that she was not “transphobic”, “anti-trans” or a “TERF”, but then went on to criticise the transition of reverend Carol Stone, who transitioned in 2000 and continued working as a Church of England priest.
Murray said Stone’s transition caused her to feel “anger” that “a man claimed to have become a woman”.
The piece also uncritically drew on inaccurate tabloid claims that the British Medical Association had banned medical staff from referring to pregnant mothers as pregnant mothers, and uncritically repeated a string of other falsehoods on trans equality.
At the time, the BBC took no action against Murray did give her an impartiality warning.
It said in a statement: “Jenni Murray is a freelance journalist and these were her own views, however we have reminded her that presenters should remain impartial on controversial topics covered by their BBC programmes.”
