“Harry Potter” creator JK Rowling has once again taken a clear position in the debate about the rights of trans people. A bill is currently being debated in the Scottish Parliament that would make it easier for trans people to officially change their gender according to their self-identification. Rowling posted a photo of himself in a t-shirt that called Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon a “destroyer of women’s rights”.
True, the full slogan cannot be seen in the photo, since the word “women” is cut off. However, other photos from the protests show women wearing the same T-shirt. “I stand in solidarity with For Women Scotland and all the women protesting and speaking outside the Scottish Parliament,” Rowling wrote. “No to self-identification.”
I stand in solidarity with @ForWomenScot and all women protesting and speaking outside the Scottish Parliament. #NoToSelfID pic.twitter.com/5vZNaZu13H
— JK Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 6, 2022
Rowling has been accused of transphobia for comments on social media. Among other things, Rowling poked fun at terms like “menstruators” on Twitter, which are meant to include women and trans men in the spirit of inclusive language. “Harry Potter” actors like Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint publicly positioned themselves against Rowling in the episode. Rowling did not attend the cast’s 20th anniversary reunion of the first film.
In Scotland, one of the proposed legislation is to lower the age at which people can apply for a gender identification certificate without a medical diagnosis from 18 to 16. The deadlines are also to be shortened: the applicants must have lived in the gender they identify with for three months before they can submit an application, plus three months to think about it after submitting the application.
Sturgeon has said the goal of the law is to make the process “less demeaning, intrusive and traumatic.” Groups such as For Women Scotland, which oppose self-identification, have called for demonstrations outside Parliament.