There were two interesting LGBT-related items on Channel 4 News last week. On Thursday evening there was a debate about the newly-published transgender equality report(pdf) by the HOC Women and Equalities Committee.



And the following evening a news item about the Anglican meeting in which the Primates decided to rebuke the Episcopal Church in the USA for its support of same-sex marriage.

Recently we've seen several controversial incidents involving accusations of homophobia and the broadcast media -

- In November Iain Lee was told to leave the BBC after an interview in which he described his guest as a bigot.

- In December the BBC was criticised for including someone who had made homophobic and misogynist remarks in their Sports Personality of the Year shortlist. The situation was exacerbated when a member of staff, Andy West, was suspended pending an investigation.

- In January, Cartoon Network was pulled up for editing out a same-sex kiss in an episode of Steven Universe. The kiss was shown in the US.

- Also this month, the BBC defended Barry Humphries' remarks about transgendered people. A spokesperson said "Barry Humphries is a freelance presenter for BBC Radio 2 and these are his personal views, which are not reflected in his radio programme."

- Channel 5's latest series of Celebrity Big Brother kicked off on Tuesday evening. The Channel 5 broadcast included a pre-recorded remark by guest Winston McKenzie about how he would cope if there was a "homosexual" in the Big Brother house.

The first of the BBC's six values states "Trust is the foundation of the BBC: we are independent, impartial and honest."

Last year, the BBC and its bosses failed to live up to that promise. Hopefully things will be improve in 2016. Also it would be nice to see BBC Pride do more than just remain silent when gay staff and their rights are put at risk.

Happy New Year