OFCOM has launched investigations into anti-LGBT+ hate speech on GB News following 15,000 complaints.
A total of 12,000 people alongside The Good Law Project have complained about a broadcast of Alex Armstrong Tonight at 9pm on July 5 which featured a segment entitled “Is Pride suitable for families?”
This is believed to be a new record for individual complaints about a GB News programme.
A further 3000 complaints were submitted about a similar incident on Saturday Five on broadcast on June 20 following a campaign by Drag Race star Bimini and influencer Liam Rondi.
On Alex Armstrong Tonight, host Armstrong was joined by UK and Ireland campaigns director at CitizenGO, Caroline Farrow, and former LibDem councillor Matthew Hulbert.
They discussed a segment called “Is Pride suitable for families?” which revolved around dangerous tropes fabricating links between LGBT+ people, paedophilia and bestiality.
Ofcom has now announced it is opening a standards investigation into the incident, following a Good Law Project complaint that argued that “the statements are blatantly homophobic” and were made “with the effect of promoting hate towards the LGBTQ+ community”.
These are the second and third investigations into anti-LGBT+ attacks on GB News in two years.
In February 2025, a GB News presenter suggested that the LGBT+ community included paedophiles and after Ofcom received 70,000 complaints it found GB News to have breached the broadcasting code.
But Ofcom took no further action against the broadcaster because, in the face of significant public pressure, GB News made an on-air apology.
Good Law Project lawyer Matt Gill said: “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, 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.”
According to God Law Project's complaint to Ofcom, during the Alex Armstrong Tonight episode Farrow said: "Now I think the problem is that Pride, has not, is not about gay rights. It has become about celebrating every single sexuality that isn't heterosexuality including some very bizarre and unhealthy hints and quirks you know like furries and bestiality and even they call themselves minor attracted people, you know, paedophiles.
"So, no, I do not think that Pride is something that's suitable for children, especially as it's about sex and sexuality.”
Hulbert then said “not at all”, while shaking his head before Armstrong said: "Yeah, I mean, look, I obviously, look, I went to Pride last year and filmed it for GB News, actually. I would say the overwhelming amount of people at Pride were there for good reasons. I don't think it was full of paedophiles and everything like I'm sure there are nefarious people."
In its complaint, the Good Law Project said: "It is a longstanding, malignant falsehood that LGBTQ+ people are in some way linked to paedophilia and bestiality. Whether such harmful and offensive nonsense is expressed (i) directly as being a sexual impulse towards children or animals inherent in LGBTQ+ people, or (ii) as paedophiles or people who participate in bestiality being a formal or recognised sub-set of those within the LGBTQ+ community and embraced by anti-discrimination campaigns and societal inclusion initiatives of LGBTQ+ groups, including Pride, it is a dangerous lie.
"Both of these meanings are present in the statements and so conveyed to viewers, either separately or in combination."
More than 3400 complaints also objected to comments in Saturday Five by a panellist discussing the case of Preston Davey – an infant who was sexually and physically abused by his adoptive fathers before he was killed.
The panellist Based and Bougie stated "gay men and gay couples are more prone to not only just domestic abuse amongst each other, but child sexual assault with their adopted children […] the statistics are out there, they've been proven time and time again that gay men are more prone to sexual deviancy".
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We are investigating whether these programmes broke our rule which requires broadcasters to ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context."
