The broadcasting regulator was forced to deny comparing with JK Rowling with “old-fashioned racists” during a parliamentary spat over transgender rights today.
Harry Potter author Rowling triggered controversy over the summer by intervening in the divisive debate over trans issues. In exchanges at a hearing of the Commons Culture Select Committee, Ofcom chief Dame Melanie Dawes agreed with comments by Scottish nationalist MP that some high-profile interventions could be compared with homophobic views from years back.
MP John Nicholson, a gay former BBC presenter, recalled being asked why he didn't have “more anti-gay voices” in a report he compiled decades ago.