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The BBC, after defending a disgraced ex-doctor and endangering trans children, are trying to protect themselves after being "hammered" by complaints from trans people.

After these varied complaints took issue with a wide variety of issues with the documentary, the BBC replied to all complaints with a copy and pasted response that basically summarised the episode, and did not address the issues raised.

If you have received a response and aren't satisfied with it, take it to the next stage. Guidance on how to do this is below. You must do it within 20 days of receiving your response.

For more information on the respones being sent out to complaints, have a look at this thread.

Start by visting the BBC's complaints page again, and click 'Make a complaint'. Select the following options, filling in your own choices where relevant:

  • Have you read our page "What happens to your complaint?": yes
  • Where do you live?: choose the region you live in
  • Please provide the first half of your postcode: the first half of your post code
  • What is your complaint about?: Television
  • Which TV channel or serivce is your complaint about?: BBC Two
  • What is the programme title?: Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best (it may autocomplete this as you type)
  • When was it broadcast?: 12 01 2017
  • How did you watch or listen to the programme?: choose most relevant option
  • What time of day did the issue happen?: 21 00
  • What is the best category to describe your complaint?: Bias
  • Are you following up a complaint you've made within the last month?: Yes
  • What is your reason for contacting us on this issue again? Unhappy with previous response
  • What is your complaint case reference number if you have one? You can find this in the subject of the email that they sent you. It will look something like CAS-4123456-FND7B4. They only need the middle seven numbers, so in this example 4123456
  • What is the subject of your complaint / Enter your complaint in full: You should pick and chose the issues that matter most to you, and use your own words. You are limited to 50 characters in the subject and 2,000 characters in the body. You could mention:
    • The views of the trans activists on the program were heavily edited and not given "due weight" which the bbc are required to do by their own policy. They were not, as described by the BBC "significant".
    • Given that zuckers treatment of "desistance therapy" is broadly dismissed by the medical community, he and his supporters should be given a small minority of the program to discuss this, not a staring role.
    • The complaint did not actually answer your concerns; it was simply a precis of the documentary, and a canned response to diverse criticism. Each point you made needs answering.
    • Half of the complaint response was an almost word for word copy and paste from the program description, suggesting they did very little actual investigation.
    • The frequent mention of puberty blockers, with no mention that they are an entirely reversable treatment.
    • The 'if you have been affected' information page only saying 'see your GP' with no links to support groups or information for those who do not need/want to see a GP.
    • Zucker's continual expression of contensious views, without them being 'rigourously tested' as required by the BBC's own policy.
    • Zucker’s discredited research on suicidality rates being overstated was given a strong focus, with little mention of the overwhelming amount of other research that supports the high suicidality rate.
    • The BBC has done nothing to address, or even acknowledge, the harm done to trans youth who have (or whose family has) seen the documentary. Several organisations have reported a sharp increase in concerning support requests as a result of this documentary.
  • Do you want to receive a reply?: If you'd like to receive a reply, choose yes, and enter your personal details. Otherwise, choose no.
  • On the final page, choose the green "Submit your complaint" button.

At this second stage, you should receive a response from or on behalf of a BBC manager or a member of the editorial team. If you are unsatisfied with this second response then there are still two further stages in the complaints procedure. We will publish further guidance on the next steps as second stage responses start to be received if they are still unsatisfactory, so watch this space.

We're also going to be more directly reaching out to the BBC in order to start a dialgoue around this. We'll keep you updated as this progresses, but we'll still need complaints to them to help keep their attention, and to encourage them to engage in a conversation over this issue.

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