Is BBC Reporting the Same Story With Different Standards? Coverage on Well-Known Actor's Trans Son Prompts Criticism

As the story of Nour Hisham Selim went viral online, after the well-known Egyptian actor proudly announced that his young son Nour was born as a female before undergoing sex reassignment procedures, the coverage of BBC online outlets received criticism from the LGBT+ community.

Pro-LGBT+ social media users, following Nour's story across different media outlets, noted that the English and Arabic websites of the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC didn't cover the story with the same standards.

While the English website of BBC referred to Nour as Hisham Selim's son, the Arabic article used the term "daughter" and continued to refer to Nour using the pronoun "she" in the title. Additionally, the Arabic article avoided using the Arabic terms for transgender people and referred to the condition as "a gender identity disorder."

One user posted screenshots of the two articles wondering whether the network realizes the difference in wording, pointing out the inconsistent coverage on BBC's part.

After being hosted as a guest on one of Ramadan's popular talk shows, Selim revealed for the first time that his, formerly, daughter Noura has now become his young son Nour.

Several TV and radio channels have since interviewed Selim and Nour, highlighting Nour's journey and his family's reactions.

Selim's statements, surprisingly, received lots of positive reactions despite the difficulties trans people face in Egypt's largely conservative community.