Transgender news journalist India Willoughby has called for Dame Jenni Murray to be sacked by the BBC over a Sunday Times piece about trans women.
Murray cited Willoughby an an example when she questioned whether someone who has enjoyed the privileges of growing up as a man could really be a woman.
The broadcaster wrote about meeting the journalist in The Sunday Times Magazine, saying: “India held firmly to her belief that she was a ‘real woman’, ignoring the fact that she had spent all of her life before her transition enjoying the privileged position in our society generally accorded to a man.
“In a discussion about the Dorchester Hotel’s demands that its female staff should always wear make-up, have a manicure and wear stockings over shaved legs, she was perfectly happy to go along with such requirements.
“There wasn’t a hint of understanding that she was simply playing into the stereotype, a man’s idea of what a woman should be.”
But Willoughby said: “I pointed out the rule applied to men and women but Jenni was fixated on leg shaving.
“She and Woman’s Hour have subsequently tried to portray me as someone who believes all women must have perfectly shaved legs at all times, which quite frankly is ridiculous.
“Fake news but it suits the storyline that she and Woman’s Hour like to project. Namely that women like me don’t understand women like her.
“I called Jenni transphobic that day – and I haven’t changed my mind since.”
Willoughby described Dame Jenni’s article in the magazine as a “patronising, nasty and bitchy attack on the trans community”, adding: “A Dame? Only in the joke pantomime sense.”
She continued: “Jenni talks about trans women growing up with ‘male privilege’. As if we have a great time and, then on a whim, jump ship.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t wish being trans on anyone, even Jenni. ‘Male privilege’ was never a privilege to me and is not something I benefited from.
“The fact that she’s still allowed to host Woman’s Hour while spouting this bile is ridiculous and she should finally be sacked.
“The world has changed and, as a public-funded broadcaster the BBC know that more than anyone, Jenni Murray is a dinosaur and we all know what happened to them.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “Jenni Murray is a freelance journalist and these were her own views.
“However, we have reminded her that presenters should remai
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