Biological Basics Confirmed: BBC updates style guide

The BBC has shuffled its style guide in the right direction.

Sharp-eyed campaigner Alan Henness uncovered changes to the corporation’s guidance made in the past 24 hours.

The updated version of the reference tool, used by over 5,500 BBC journalists, contains several small but significant changes to the language used when reporting on sex and trans identities.

Perhaps most striking, where journalists were previously told “the concept of a gender identity is contested by some”, the final two words have disappeared. The guidance now states simply: “We should be aware that the concept of a gender identity is contested.”

The corporation has also added a warning that “care is needed with the use of umbrella terms”. The guidance says that, where possible, initialisms should be avoided, adding: “The issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people can be very different and the more specific we can be with our language the better.”

No changes have yet been made to the use of pronouns. The BBC advises reporters: “We generally use the pronoun preferred by the person in question, unless there are editorial reasons not to do so. If their preference is unknown, apply that which fits with the way the person lives publicly.”

These are hardly revolutionary changes. But after years in which news organisations have too often adopted the language of trans activism as though it were neutral fact, acknowledging without qualification that gender identity is a contested concept, and advising care around the use of umbrella terms, marks a welcome shift towards precision.

At the time of writing, the BBC has not reported how these changes have impacted on drag queens.