Broadcasters at the BBC came under fire for having “censored” a T-shirt with a trans-rights slogan – with a senior trade unionist saying he was “ashamed” of the corporation.
Mike Corbett, Scotland official for the NASUWT teaching union, hit out while wearing a T-shirt with the slogan, “Protect the Dolls”.
The BBC edited the same slogan off a T-shirt worn by House Of The Dragon star, Bethany Antonia, during a recent episode of Strictly Come Dancing
In the clip she was shown wearing a plain white T-shirt, but in an Instagram video shared by the BBC, seemingly filmed at the same rehearsal, the slogan could be seen.
Speaking at a fringe event at the SNP conference in Aberdeen, Mr Corbett displayed the same T-shirt, telling the audience: “If you are a Strictly Come Dancing fan you will know all about this.”
He insisted: “This is not what the BBC calls it, the BBC says this is a political slogan and they censored it.”
To applause from the audience, he added: “It is not a political slogan, it is an absolute necessity that we protect trans people at the moment.”
Protect The Dolls is a slogan in support of transgender women, who are known as “dolls” in the LGBT+ community.
Mr Corbett went on to say he “used to be quite proud of the BBC” but said he was now “ashamed of some of its output”.
A BBC spokesperson said, last week, that it had been “standard practice” for them to remove slogans or “overt branding” from entertainment programmes.
The spokesperson said: “As is standard practice on any entertainment show on the BBC and in line with our editorial guidelines, appropriate steps are taken to reduce the inclusion of any overt branding or slogans that may be present, regardless of the wording or statement in question.”