The BBC has included at least two trans women among its list of 100 'most inspiring and influential' women of 2021.
Transgender women have been included in the BBC 100 Women list 'many times' since its launch in 2013, according to the broadcaster.
It said a transgender activist who identifies as non-binary was listed in 2019.
The inclusion of transgender women, who MailOnline has decided not to name, in this year's list comes after BBC bosses decided to withdraw from a diversity scheme run by an LGBT charity because of the 'risk of a perception of bias'.
Director of Nations Rhodri Talfan Davies said public trust that the BBC can approach 'very complex areas' with complete impartiality is 'the absolute bedrock' of its decision-making.
But The Spectator claimed: 'The point is that by including transwomen on a list of women, the BBC is taking sides in a contested issue.'
Meanwhile, the BBC said in a statement that it would not be renewing its participation in the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme but will continue to work with a range of organisations to support its LGBT staff.
UK-born Jos Boys is co-director of The DisOrdinary Architecture Project, 'which encourages innovation among disabled artists relating to access and inclusion in the design of our built surroundings'
Sahar Fetrat was a refugee in Iran and Pakistan during the first Taliban regime. She returned to Kabul in 2006 and has a master’s degree in critical gender studies from Central European University. She is currently studying King’s College London's Department of War Studies
Baroness Helena Kennedy, a Scottish barrister known for defending the rights of women and minorities, is director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, which has recently been assisting women at risk in Afghanistan
Award-wining TV, film and theatre actress and human-rights activist Leena Alam is renowned for her appearances in feminist television shows in Afghanistan. She fled the country in the 1980s and now lives in the US
The captain of Afghanistan's women's wheelchair basketball team Nilofar Bayat
Hoda Khamosh (pictured) ran the awareness campaign 'menstruation is not a taboo' in Afghan schools to promote open conversations about periods
Mr Talfan Davies told Women's Hour the BBC is trying to create an inclusive working environment, while ensuring it remains balanced with its output.
He said the issues of transgender and women's rights are 'highly polarised debates'.
'The key thing for the BBC, as a broadcaster utterly committed to impartiality, is to ensure that audiences have trust in us to come into these very complex areas dispassionately and fairly,' he said.
At least eight major organisations have left the Stonewall group's controversial scheme
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'In the case of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme, it had led to questions about whether the BBC could be truly impartial when reporting on public policy debates like this, given that Stonewall has an active campaigning role in this space.
'For that reason we believe it's the right time to step back from that programme.'
This year the BBC's Women's list 'is highlighting women playing their part to reinvent our society' and is dominated by inspirational women from Afghanistan.
For their own safety some of the women appear under pseudonyms and have not been pictured, in light of possible attacks against them in their home country.
In Afghanistan the Taliban does not allow girls to receive a secondary education and many women were told not to return to work following the takeover in August.
The BBC said:'This year's list recognises the scope of their bravery and their achievements as they are forced to reset their lives.'
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Samoa's first female prime minister Fiamē Naomi Mata'afa, Professor Heidi J Larson, who heads The Vaccine Confidence Project, and acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie all feature this year.
Sahar Fetrat, one Afghan woman who has been
