A trans activist has sparked outrage after criticising former Woman's Hour presenter Dame Jenni Murray just hours after the broadcaster's death was announced. India Willoughby, 60, took to social media platform X to accuse Dame Jenni of spreading 'Terf garbage' and contributing to an anti-trans atmosphere in the UK.
Willoughby recalled a 2017 appearance on Woman's Hour, claiming Dame Jenni was 'snotty as hell' and questioned her qualifications to present a show for women. She also referenced an article Dame Jenni wrote for The Times, describing it as a 'hit-piece' that said Willoughby 'wasn't a real woman'. Willoughby said she complained to the BBC, resulting in Dame Jenni being banned from discussing trans issues on air.
Dame Jenni, who died at 75, wrote in a Daily Mail column last year that she was not sacked but was banned from discussing the debate on air, and that Willoughby had called her 'a nasty cow and far worse' in tweets. Following Willoughby's recent comments, social media users criticised her, with one writing: 'How did we know you'd make this all about you? Jenni was absolutely right. You're not a woman.'
Others defended Dame Jenni's line of questioning, with one user stating: 'It was a fair question. What qualifies a man to host a show for women?' Another praised Dame Jenni as a 'brilliant woman' and 'undoubted champion of women', adding that Willoughby was 'a speck on her amazing career'.
On the BBC's Today programme, presenter Nick Robinson noted that Dame Jenni felt 'shunned' due to her involvement in the trans debate. Former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, a trans supporter, said Dame Jenni's involvement should not detract from her feminist contributions. However, Maya Forstater of Sex Matters called it 'an absolute insult' for the BBC to have Harman on, insinuating that Dame Jenni's principled stand detracted from her feminism.
