Ofcom launches investigations into GB News over LGBTQ+ slurs – again

After 15,000 people complained to Ofcom over repeated broadcasts of LGBTQ+ slurs on GB News, the media regulator has opened two more investigations.

In June, the rightwing influencer Based and Bougie claimed on GB News’s The Saturday Five that gay men are “more prone” to “sexual deviancy” and “child sexual assault with their adopted children”. And in July, Caroline Farrow of CitizenGO – a lobby group which campaigns against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights around the world – claimed on Alex Armstrong Tonight that Pride “is not about gay rights” and has become about celebrating “bestiality” and “minor attracted people, you know, paedophiles”.

These dangerous lies are almost identical to remarks made by the GB News host Josh Howie in January 2025, when he suggested “the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons… that includes paedos”. After 70,000 people complained to the regulator, Ofcom found that GB News had breached the broadcasting code. The broadcaster made a grovelling apology on air, and the media watchdog took no further action.

Now Ofcom’s failure to impose sanctions has come home to roost, with guests on GB News repeating the same toxic claims.

Under the broadcast code, television channels can only air hate speech when it is justified by the context, such as to preserve historical accuracy. But there is no justification for GB News broadcasting these homophobic attacks, which only spread hate.

We – and the LGBTQ+ community – are not giving up. We filed a detailed complaint over Farrow’s remarks about Pride, and campaigners Bimini, Liam Rondi, and Love Queers encouraged over 15,000 people to file their own complaints. 

For Good Law Project lawyer Matthew Gill, the “hateful trope” about LGBTQ+ people broadcast by GB News “puts the community at risk”.

“When GB News tried to make a link between LGBTQ+ people and paedophilia before,” Gill said, “Ofcom found the broadcast was highly offensive and yet did nothing about it. The regulator must impose meaningful sanctions to stop this rogue channel repeating these vicious lies again and again.”