Fury as BBC contains transgender Colombian scientist in annual listing of 100 inspiring girls – days after Barbra Banda received its girls’s footballer of the 12 months award regardless of being axed over ‘excessive testosterone’

The BBC has sparked outrage after including a transgender Colombian scientist in its annual 100 Women list for 2024.

Women’s rights campaigners lambasted the move to name transgender biologist Brigitte Baptiste on the list of ‘influential’ females, with critics branding it ‘breathtakingly insulting’. 

Baptiste claimed in 2018, to have discovered a ‘transsexual’ palm tree and said the ‘change of sex and gender has been reported regularly in science’. 

The move to add her to the list comes days after the Beeb was blasted over its choice for women’s footballer of the year, with Zambian player Barbra Banda winning despite the sports star having been axed from a tournament for failing to meet sex eligibility rules.  

This year’s 100 Women list includes a selection of females from many different fields, including well-known figures such actress Sharon Stone, Brit singer Raye, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, visual artist Tracey Emin, and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. 

Biologist Baptiste is among the nominees and is described in the citation as a ‘trans woman’ who ‘explores the common patterns between biodiversity and gender identity’.

The BBC says she uses a ‘queer lens to analyse landscapes and species in a bid to expand the notion of ‘nature’ to better protect ecosystems’.

But critics have hit out, with Kate Barker-Mawjee, chief executive of the LGB Alliance, posting on X: ‘This is Brigitte Baptiste, one of the BBC’s women of the year picks. Another breathtakingly insulting move from the woman-haters at the BBC.’

Transgender biologist Brigitte Baptiste has been named on the BBC’s list ‘influential’ females 

Colombian Baptiste (pictured) in 2018 claimed to have discovered a ‘transsexual’ palm tree

Another person raged: ‘This makes me so angry. There are so many talented women out there who have accomplished so much and they are ignored.’

While a third added on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform formally known as Twitter: ‘I’ve gone past angry to totally f*****g bemused. I just can’t understand this lunacy. Is there something in the water at BBC HQ?’

Baptiste, who has been dubbed a ‘powerhouse of ecology’ has previously argued that it was prudent to do away with ideas of ‘naturalness’ in nature, saying: ‘There is nothing more queer than nature’. 

Speaking of its top 100 women’s list, the BBC said: ‘BBC 100 Women acknowledges the toll this year has taken on women by celebrating those who – through their resilience – are pushing for change, as the world changes around them.’

Those named on the list include scientists, activists, doctors, religious figures, political heavyweights and journalists.

Baptiste was included alongside women’s rights campaigner Zhina Modares Gorji and Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman has recently faced down in court those accused of raping her repeatedly after her husband – dubbed the ‘Monster of Avignon’ – drugged her. 

Also featured is Brazilian Olympic gymnast Rebeca Andrade and Angela Rayner, Britain’s deputy prime minister.

Last year’s list also sparked controversy after Nepalese transgender activist Rukshana Kapali was named on the list following a legal fight to change gender officially from male to female.

In 2023 transgender activist Rukshana Kapali from Nepal, pictured, was included on a list of the year’s 100 most inspiring women

Last week Zambia and Orlando Pride striker Barbra Banda was been named BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year for 2024 after triumphing in a vote involving a five-player shortlist

The BBC was attacked online over the move. One woman, who advocates for ‘women’s sex based rights’, wrote on X: ‘But you have taken a place away from another biological women. This isn’t right or fair.’ 

They told the BBC to ‘stop taking opportunities away from women’. 

And in 2022, the BBC included Erika Hilton, the first black transgender woman to be elected to Brazil’s National Congress; and Efrat Tilma, the first trans woman to volunteer for the Israeli police.  

Fiona Crack, founder of BBC 100 Women and co-controller BBC World Service languages & deputy global director, said: ‘At the BBC, we are proud to shine a spotlight on these extraordinary women, from high-profile figures to those whose remarkable contributions often go unrecognised.’ 

MailOnline has approached the BBC for further comment.