Transgender boss of endometriosis charity says she felt bullied, 'bruised and upset' when Woman's Hour presenter Emma Barnett asked why she did not use the word 'woman' in a statement on the disease

The transgender boss of an endometriosis charity says she felt bullied, bruised and upset when Woman's Hour presenter Emma Barnett asked why she didn't use the word 'woman' to describe sufferers of the disease.

Steph Richards, 71, who caused controversy this week after being appointed to the top job at Endometriosis South Coast, sparked a pile-on against Ms Barnett after appearing on the show.

During the interview, the radio host, who is one of 1.5million British sufferers of the painful disease - in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body - questioned Richards about her suitability for the role.

And in an exchange listeners praised as 'defending biological reality', Ms Barnett pressed the chief executive on why she did not use the word 'woman' in a statement referring to those with the condition.

The interview prompted Richards to post on X, formerly Twitter: 'Did Emma Bartlett [sic] want to talk about #endo or the word "woman"?

'A missed chance I suspect, to raise awareness of this truly awful disease.'

Trans activists then attacked the presenter on social media, claiming the interview was bullying and transphobic. 

But in a statement from the BBC to MailOnline yesterday, it hit back at Richards and said the CEO knew exactly what the chat would focus on and said it frequently discussed issues such as endometriosis.

Today, Richards told the Times she felt bullied in the interview and that it left her 'bruised and upset'.

She said: 'In my statement I included the word "everyone" but that wasn't good enough for Emma. I was surprised at the aggression. She wanted to carry on going back to it all the time.

'I've had loads of messages, emails from women saying, "Why did she do that?" She obviously had an agenda to pick up on such a small point. She was basically looking for problems. I feel sorry for women because I would have loved to be able to explain more about endometriosis. It was a manufactured debate.'

A BBC spokesman said yesterday: 'Woman's Hour regularly covers all aspects of women's health, including endometriosis.

'Both contributors understood that the focus of this interview was the widespread criticism of the appointment of Steph Richards, a trans woman, as CEO for a women's health charity.

'This was a fair and robust interview and both Steph and the charity's chair, Jodie Hughes, were given the opportunity to address this criticism in full. Such discussions elicit strong reactions from all sides on social media.' 

Ms Barnett was lauded by prominent feminists, including Julie Bindel and Kathleen Stock, for robustly questioning Richards after her appointment as head of Endometriosis South Coast.

But she was also slated by critics, including Labour MP Ben Bradshaw. 

The MP for Exeter said:  'Huge respect to you and your colleague for withstanding the appalling presenter bullying and defending inclusive language and services.'

Another critic alleged it had been a 'one-person BBC rant against two people doing great work'.

And a further complainant claimed it had been 'a disgraceful interview' and was 'bullying... not proper journalism'.

The BBC has been asked for comment about the complaints.

An estimated 176million women worldwide suffer from endometriosis.

In the interview, Richards told Ms Barnett - who has the condition herself - that '29 men' also suffered from it.

And in another excruciating moment Richards insisted the widely used slur Terf - which stands for a trans-exclusionary radical feminist and is used to attack the likes of author JK Rowling who stand up for women's rights in the face of militant trans demands - was embraced by some people and seen as 'really positive'.

Both Richards and Endometriosis South Coast founder Ms Hughes defended the appointment.

But the flashpoint occurred when Ms Barnett pointed out that Richards had not used the word woman in a statement about endometriosis.

She asked : 'There is a concern that as a trans activist, now running, being the CEO of an endometriosis charity for women, that you will not preserve the importance of things like the word 'woman' and that experience because in your statement on X, 10 per cent you say of those assigned female at birth suffer from this awful disease. Is the word you are looking for there "woman"?'

Richards hit back: 'I look at woman, but also look at the issue of trans men and non-binary people. There's something like 5,000 trans men who have endometriosis who probably feel absolutely rather left out. There's also non-binary people.'

Ms Barnett cut in, 'But the vast majority are women', before Ms Richards insisted, 'Yes, of course the vast majority are women. Does that mean we should leave behind trans men, Emma?

'I'm happy to use the word woman, I realise the vast majority of endometriosis affects women. You'll also know there's 29 cases of endometriosis found in men.'

When challenged on her use of the word Terf, the activist insisted: 'The term Terf can be seen by some as a slur, and others actually embrace it as being something really positive.

'I was brought into Endometriosis South Coast to raise the awareness of endometriosis full stop and also raise the profile of Endometriosis South Coast. It's pretty amazing that in five days I've achieved that and the vehicle that's done that is transphobia.'

Endometriosis South Coast was this week condemned by women's rights campaigners after the organisation - which offers support to sufferers of the agonising womb condition - named Ms Richards as its chief executive. 

Furious critics branded the appointment an 'insult' to women, while one mother who has suffered from the crippling health condition for decades said she was 'sickened' and 'appalled' by the news.

But Portsmouth Labour activist Ms Richards - who spent £30,000 on an operation to transition from male to female and has previously clashed with feminist campaigners - accused her critics of 'transphobia'. 

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, a defiant Ms Richards insisted: 'My birth sex doesn't come into it - my CV does.'

She added: 'CEOs are appointed by boards/trustees because of their skill set, not because of their sex (note I have a GRC).'

Ms Richards said her experience included founding the trans charity TransLucent, which 'became LGBT organisation of the year and I did that in 27 months'. She also won the Inspirational Women of Portsmouth Awards 2023 in the Inspirational Elder category.

Her appointment, announced on Sunday evening, was met with a wave of outrage on social media. 

Jeannette Towey, 66, who has suffered with endometriosis since she was 15 and has had five miscarriages due to it, said she was 'sickened'.

The mother-of-two, from Crowborough in East Sussex - whose daughter also has the condition, said: 'To appoint someone like that to a role with an endometriosis charity is an insult in the extreme. It's appalling. I never thought we would see an endometriosis charity succumb to this kind of woke ideology.'

Kellie-Jay Keen, founder of Let Women Speak movement, lamented: 'Everyone has lost their collective minds. 

'This is an absolute disaster and affront to all women who suffer from endometriosis, which is about 10 per cent of women. It's really insulting.' 

Speaking earlier today on LBC, Ms Richards said 'duly obliged' to take up the the role of leading the Portsmouth-based charity after being approached by its trustees.

She said the charity's current chairman, Jodie Hughes, was 'stepping back' to focus on her PhD research on endometriosis, an incurable condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, including the ovaries and fallopian tubes, and one that Ms Hughes suffers from.

'The trustees decided that the organisation needed an activist with a proven record to drive the charity forward and advocate for women's health in our city, which is desperately needed,' Ms Richards told LBC's Nick Ferrari. 

Responding to the furious wave of criticism against her, Ms Richards continued: 'Simon Cooke is the CEO of MSI Reproductive Choices - a man, he has been there for 10 years. He hasn't experienced transphobia on the level that I have; Laura Kirby is CEO of Prostate Cancer UK – no one's calling for her head.'

Ms Richard insisted ESC was about being 'inclusive', and added: 'If you're a trans man, where do you go unless you've got an inclusive organisation like ours, where do they go for support?'

About one in 10 women are thought to suffer from endometriosis. Ms Richards claimed that approximately '5,500 trans men' were thought to be living with the condition in the UK.  

But pressing Ms Richards on her new charity role, LBC presenter Mr Ferrari said: 'You'll never fully understand what it is like to have heavy periods or to have this condition because of your birth sex. How do you respond to that?'

'Laura Kirby, the CEO of Prostate Cancer [UK] isn't going to get prostate cancer, is she,' responded Ms Richards.

She continued: 'When you appoint a CEO, you do that because of a skillset. That's why I have been appointed into this position because I am very good at creating campaigns. I've founded an organisation that became LGBT organisation of the year and I did that in 27 months.'

ECS's announcement of Ms Richards' appointment on Sunday came with a statement next to her image that said: 'Isn't it ridiculous I've got to my 40s before any medical professionals even mentioned endometriosis.'

Trans women, who are biological males that identify as women, do not and cannot have a uterus and, therefore, can never suffer from endometriosis. 

The charity, which runs support groups for women who suffer from the debilitating condition, later apologised for the 'misunderstanding'.

'This quote is from a person that our charity supports. Not from Steph herself,' the organisation wrote on X.

'Steph is a huge advocate for what people in the endo community go through. This is why they were appointed, not because they have their own endo journey.'

But they continued to face backlash, with one person writing: 'You have failed every single woman who is currently using your services.'

Women's rights activist Ms Keen was critical of the language used by the charity and said it 'ignored women', adding: 'The losers are women who suffered from endometriosis who have to rely on a charity that won't call them 'women' but 'people' but who will call a man a women.

'I think it's doubly insulting they will use female language for him but not for a sufferer the condition.'

Conservative activist Ms Towey claimed to have previously worked as a regional organiser in the south for Endometriosis UK, operating across Southampton and Portsmouth - where ECS is based. 

She added: 'This is a tin pot charity. I don't know who they are... I have never heard of this lot.' 

Ms Richards, who uses the pronouns she and her, has repeatedly clashed with women's rights advocates, some of whom she has branded as 'terfs', and was previously involved in a protest outside the FiLiA feminist conference.

On LinkedIn, the activist, who is also a Women's Officer at Portsmouth Labour Party, lists her professions as journalist and publisher, having started the website and blog Steph's Place UK.

Steph's Place UK was one of the trans rights organisations which unsuccessfully attempted to have the Equality and Human Rights Commission stripped of its international accreditation after it warned about changes to legal gender recognition and conversion therapy.

The new chief executive described the questions over her appointment as 'transmisogyny' and said she did not apply for the role but was asked to take it on.

She said on X that she had begun 'researching issues around pregnancy and women's health well over two decades ago'.

Speaking today, she added: 'Many gynaecologists are men - I don't see any headlines about them. Some midwives are men - I don't see any headlines about them either. And how about the male paramedic who may deal with miscarriage or prolapse - there are no headlines about them either. Am I wrong?' 

But Caroline Ffiske, director of Conservatives for Women, said she was in 'disbelief', adding: 'It's an insulting appointment. It's an insult to women.

'It's an absolutely shocking appointment. There's just disbelief and despair among the entire community.'

Another critic on X, who claimed to have suffered from the condition for years, wrote: 'As a woman who suffered with endometriosis for decades, I simply cannot fathom why you'd think this appointment is appropriate.'

On its website, ESC said it is an 'inclusive charity set up to support people who haven't started their diagnosis journey, are going through the diagnosis stages, or have been diagnosed with endometriosis and/or adenomyosis'.

It added it aims to create a 'safe space for all people with the condition regardless of race, gender, or religion. 

'This disease does not discriminate and neither do the people who run this charity,' the organisation added on its website.

The charity's founder and chairman of trustees is Ms Hughes, who was diagnosed with Endometriosis at the age of 29.

She has previously spoken as a keynote speaker at a round-table event on transgender health care and had studied transgender and gender bias theories at university. 

Her PhD at the University of Roehampton looked at the disparities in the care of endometriosis patients

In an article written by Ms Hughes, entitled 'Managing Endometriosis When You're Trans: Suffering In Silence, she said: 'Managing endometriosis is a feat in itself, but it can be an even more difficult and isolating experience for transgender individuals.

'Too often, transgender and non-binary people are left out of the conversation when it comes to this disease. This can lead to a lack of understanding and feelings of helplessness, which in turn, can cause worsening symptoms.'

On ESC's website, the charity added endometriosis in the 'gender non-conforming population is a highly stigmatised and scary area of diagnosis and treatment'. 

It claimed that 'focussing research and treatment plans on gendered constructs is not progressing either research or treatment'.