But GB News did enough to escape Ofcom penalties

Josh Howie’s comments linking the LGBTQ+ community to paedophilia broke broadcasting guidelines, watchdogs have ruled.

But Ofcom have not formally censured GB News over ‘potentially highly offensive content’ in the light of a follow-up show which discussed what the comedian said, in which Howie also apologised for any misunderstanding.

The regulator received 71,581 complaints over the comments made in January via a petition organised via campaign group the Good Law Project, plus 1,227 individual comments. 

If the complaints via petition are considered individually, it sets an Ofcom record – beating the 58,000 who got in touch over Piers Morgan's swipes at Meghan Markle on Good Morning Britain in 2021, which were ultimately cleared by the watchdog.

On the now-cancelled  GB News show Headliners, Howie and fellow guests s Paul Cox and Steve N Allen were talking about  a sermon given by the episcopal bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, at a service attended by Donald Trump.

In the service, she called on the newly-inaugurated US President to ‘have mercy’ on gay, lesbian and transgender children ‘who fear for their lives’.

On the show he was hoping, Howie said: ‘The type of church that she belongs to, the diocese that talks about the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, I just want to say that includes paedos. If we’re doing the full inclusion there.’

Complainants said Howie was lining members of the LGBTQ+ community with paedophiles, which they objected to as being a ‘longstanding’, ‘toxic’ and ‘dangerous trope’. 

Examples of complaints included: 

• ‘To link them on broadcast television is a dangerous thing which encourages the perpetuation of dangerous tropes, emboldens those guilty of hate crimes against a marginalised community and ‘others’ members of our society’
• ‘This was a deliberate attempt to conflate being gay with being a paedophile and to imply that this is accepted and acceptable within the LGBTQ+ community. The intention behind such a comment was to propagate untruths and promote an attitude of hate towards LGBTQ+ people’;
• ‘Comparing the LGBTQ community to paedophilia is not only dangerous for us, but is a direct attack against people for their sexuality’;
• ‘As well as being disgusting and inflammatory this is also totally inaccurate and could potentially put members of the LGBTQ community at risk’;
• ‘The myth that LGBTQ+ folk included paedophiles was frequently used to smear us in the 1980s, and I remember that because I was there. Would [Howie] expect to say this about any other minority group and get away with it?
• ‘This is a gross falsehood that many many people have used for a long time in order to stoke fear and hatred against the LGBT+ community. Mr. Howie’s comments are deeply divisive and very damaging to the LGBT+ [community] and may stoke violence against LGBT+ people’;
• ‘This is hate speech. It is blatantly homophobic, made with the intention to promote hate towards the LGBTQ+ community. It perpetuates one of the oldest, most pernicious lies that has surrounded LGBTQ+ people for decades.

A number of organisations including Stonewall and Trans Media Watch also put their name to Good Law Project’s submission to Ofcom which said: ‘Howie’s statement is blatantly homophobic and transphobic and was made with the intention and effect of promoting hate towards the LGBTQ+ community’. It argued that the content was offensive, harmful and constituted hate speech. 

In its initial response, even GB News was forced to concede: We entirely acknowledge the nature of the potential offence caused by Josh Howie’s comments. The conflation or association of homosexuality with paedophilia is a harmful and homophobic trope. We also acknowledge that Mr Howie’s comment was misinterpreted by some to endorse the homophobic trope.’ 

However, it argued that was not the intention, saying that while ‘effective comedy always has the potential to cause upset’, that is ‘never the purpose of this programme’ - and said that viewers would be familiar the style of the show and Howie as presenter. 

On the comedian’s specific comments they said it was ‘absolutely was not a gratuitous insult to gay people and was not in any way meant to be", nor was it ‘an accusation of any sort against the LGB or Queer community’.

GB News acknowledged that ‘it is still possible that the comment may have upset or offended some viewers’, but said they were confident that was ‘unlikely’ in context of the full programme.

They said that a seven-second clip which had been circulated online did not provide the full context,  echoing Howie’s own complaints. The broadcaster said the clip was  accompanied by ‘disingenuous commentary’, which meant many of those who complained would not have viewed the relevant sequence in context, ‘if indeed they had watched it at all’.

In its response to Ofcom, GB News  went on to explain what the comedian had been intending to comment on.

‘The concern for many about using an open-ended term such as Q+ is that there is no clarity over which groups might choose to include themselves under that banner. 

‘Whilst there are a number of entirely legitimate groups who fall under the "Q+", there are also, and have been for many years, a small number of groups and individuals who advocate that ‘full inclusion’ should be extended to include what have been called ‘Minor Attracted Persons’ or paedophiles.  To what extent this is the case is an ongoing matter of debate.’

It added that Howie was seeking to highlight Bishop Budde’s ‘hypocrisy’ in ‘berating the US President for failing to act to safeguard children’, while supporting so-called ‘gender ideology…which many say raises safeguarding issues for children in and of itself’.

And it argued that Howie had ‘the right to make a pointed and blunt comment in a humorous way that some might object to, but which is grounded in a serious and important point’.

Ironically, given how much the political right has been lobbying against the the European Convention on Human Rights, GB News quoted its Article 10 protection of free speech in its response.

The broadcaster said: ’Some people clearly disagreed with what Josh said. That is their right and it is the nature of debate and discussion on controversial subjects. 

‘Some may say they were offended by the way Josh made his point or his interpretation [of the issues involved]. That may be so, but it is no justification for silencing him. 

‘The point he made was valid and logical. The way he expressed it – briefly, bluntly and with humour, was legitimate in the context of the programme.’

Perhaps in light of the backlash, the following month GB News dedicated an episode of Free Speech Nation to paedophiles potentially adopting the ‘Q+" label, which Howie hosted – and which included criticisms of the comedian’s earlier comments

GB News said that ‘significant thought was given to the follow-up programme…  to ensure that any viewers who had misinterpreted the comment (or had viewed the uncontextualised social media clip) were reassured about the intention behind it through Mr Howie’s detailed explanation and apology’.

That show featured barrister Robin Moira White, who argued that Howie’s comment had been intended to discredit the LGBTQ+ community and in particular transgender people by ‘getting the name of a minority group and the accusation of criminality close enough together that people make that assumption’. 

She said that the comment as broadcast ‘very clearly implied that you were accusing all that group of being paedophiles’. 

Howie said in response : ‘I’d like to say, I'm sorry, anybody who thought that I was making an offensive comment, I'm sorry’,  and ‘I'm genuinely sorry that anyone might have taken what I said to mean this, and I apologise.’

In its ruling published today, Ofcom said it was ‘unlikely’ viewers would have seen Howie’s ‘ambiguous’ initial comment as a reference to the debate as to what is considered ‘Q+’/

The watchdogs said: ‘Another potential interpretation of the comment was that it referred to the longstanding and well-known prejudicial trope which accuses homosexual people, in particular gay men, of sexual attraction towards children and associated predatory behaviour. 

'That potential for offence is exacerbated by the historical character of the trope, which has long been implicated in instances of homophobia; more recently, it has been linked to the debate around transgender rights.’

After concluding that the comment was ‘potentially highly offensive’  and ‘likely to have exceeded audience expectations’, they went on to consider mitigating factors.

They ruled: ‘The programme did not contain any clarification, challenge, explanation, apology or other information sufficient to mitigate the significant potential offence’ – and that the ‘potentially highly offensive content was not justified by the context’.

That meant the comment broke the Broadcasting Code.

Of the follow-up Free Speech Nation show,  Ofcom said: ‘We noted that the contextualisation of the issue and apology for causing offence was broadcast two and a half weeks after the programme in question. 

‘While we considered this action was adequate given the particular circumstances of this case, we remind broadcasters they should take prompt action where it would assist in avoiding or minimising unjustified offence. 

‘Given the circumstances of this case and in light of the subsequent steps taken by the licensee, our decision is that this matter is resolved.’

Published: 6 Oct 2025