📢 Update on our #NoShame campaign to the @BBC. During the Connecting Wall round of the BBC Two show Only Connect, the words scar, blot, stain and stigma, were all connected as “marks of shame”. Thanks to the actions of you, our friends, supporters, ambassadors, and campaigners, amplifying our message on social media, we got people talking about why words matter. We’ve been able to shine a light on the continued use of outdated tropes and stereotypes that see negative representations of visible difference persist across popular culture. We have secured an apology from the BBC and have been pleased to speak directly with the host of Only Connect, Victoria Coren Mitchell, and we are looking forward to meeting the production team behind the popular quiz show. We have also spoken with the Creative Diversity & Disability Content Lead at the BBC, whose team have committed to working with us. We will be meeting with them to plan how we can ensure creative teams can better represent visible difference in the future. Our ambassador, Tulsi, says: “It’s great that Victoria took to social media to quickly address what happened, recognising it was a mistake and speaking with Changing Faces. And I’m pleased to see an apology from a BBC spokesperson; but we don’t campaign for apologies on their own. “We want people to work with us and better understand the experiences of people with a visible difference, so they recognise the impact of words, negative representations and outdated tropes that use differences like scars to signify ‘villainy’ or ‘shame’. “That’s why we’re happy that the Only Connect team is going to meet with us and we will continue to work on this issue with the BBC to ensure all their creative teams are aware of how to better represent visible difference.” Full statement via #LinkInBio #BBC #OnlyConnect #VictoriaCorenMitchell #Scars #Scar #ScarAcceptance