The BBC has the highest on-screen transgender representation among the major TV broadcasters – with a greater proportion than the population at large.
A new television industry diversity survey has revealed that ‘on-screen transgender contributions’ at the corporation were 1.2 per cent, up from 0.4 per cent from three years earlier.
The current representation is more than double the figure of 0.5 per cent in the UK adult population according to the 2021 census – a figure which has itself been scrapped for being a likely overstatement.
The Creative Diversity Network (CDN), who published the report, collected data on UK original productions that were commissioned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 owners Paramount, Sky and UK TV.
It showed that across the broadcasters there were 0.8 per cent on-screen transgender ‘contributions’ in the year 2022/23.
The BBC has the highest on-screen transgender representation among the major TV broadcasters. A new television industry diversity survey has revealed that ‘on-screen transgender contributions’ at the corporation were 1.2 per cent (stock image)
The current representation is more than double the figure of 0.5 per cent in the UK adult population according to the 2021 census – a figure which has itself been scrapped for being a likely overstatement (stock image)
Again, this appears to be above the proportion in the country at large.
Channel 4 had the second highest representation, with a figure of 1 per cent.
The Census 2021 showed – in figures that were yesterday removed from the official record – that 0.5% of the 16 and over population said their gender identity was ‘different to their sex registered at birth’.
The Diamond: The Seventh Cut report showed that off-screen contributions by trans people at the BBC was 0.8 per cent.
It also looked at a range of other areas of representation.
The report said that the over-50s were ‘under-represented’ on screen, with representation lowest on ITV, at 19.8 per cent, and then the BBC with 25.5 per cent. This was against a census figure of 38 per cent for this age group.
It added that overall on-screen representation for lesbian, gay and bisexual people across TV was 17.1 per cent, well above the census figures of more than three per cent.
People from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are also more highly represented on-screen than in the census, but are under-represented in the TV industry off-screen in comparison to the overall workforce.