UK: Stating reality can be wrong

Dame Jenni Murray has sparked a fierce debate with her claim that a sex change can't make someone a real woman

The presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour argued that transgender women do not have the shared experience of growing up female.

On Twitter, some commenters vehemently disagreed with the remarks while others agreed with the veteran broadcaster.

Twitter user Wadorf Sixpence said: 'Jenni Murray needs to be sacked from Women's Hour immediately.'

Writing in the Sunday Times Magazine, Dame Jenni, 66, said: 'Let me make something absolutely clear at the outset. I am not transphobic or anti-trans.'

She went on to criticise comments made by broadcaster India Willoughby on Women's Hour in December.

Willoughby became the first trans woman to present an all-female TV chat show when she co-hosted Loose Women.

Dame Jenni wrote: 'India held firmly to her belief that she was a "real woman", ignoring the fact that she had spent all her life before her transition enjoying the privileged position in our society generally accorded to a man.'

She adds: 'Your sex, male or female, is what you’re born with and determines whether you’ll provide the sperm or the eggs in the reproductive process.'

Dame Jenni said that she 'firmly' believes that transsexuals 'should be treated with respect and protected from the bullying and violence'.

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