JK Rowling accuses Labour of abandoning women over trans rights

JK Rowling has spoken out against Labour for "leaving behind" women with their position on transgender rights.

In a recent article for the Times, the famous author of Harry Potter expressed doubt about her willingness to support Sir Keir Starmer, stating that she had a negative view of his personality.

The ex-Labour supporter criticized the party's handling of women's issues under Sir Keir's leadership as being disrespectful and sometimes hurtful.

When questioned about Rowling's statements, Sir Keir replied: "I have a great deal of admiration for her and I want to highlight the significant accomplishments of the Labour Party in enacting crucial laws that have advanced women's rights during their time in power."

He stated that these obstacles will always exist, and more advancements are outlined in the Labour Party's election manifesto.

Rowling made her remarks following Sir Keir's apparent change in stance on transgender rights during the BBC Question Time election special on Thursday.

In the previous year, the leader of the Labour Party mentioned that the majority of women, about 99.9%, do not possess a penis. However, in 2021, he expressed his disagreement with Labour MP Rosie Duffield's statement that "only women have a cervix."

On Thursday evening, he mentioned that he supported former Labour leader Sir Tony Blair's stance on the matter, stating that "biologically, a woman is identified by having a vagina and a man is identified by having a penis."

When questioned about his previous remarks about Ms. Duffield, he explained that the discussion at that point had turned "extremely poisonous, completely split, very uncompromising."

In her article for The Times, Rowling mentioned that during Thursday's debate, Starmer seemed to interpret Rosie's words as unkind, toxic, and hard-line, even though similar words spoken by Tony Blair were viewed as perfectly reasonable.

She stated: "As liberal women like ourselves, the issue is not solely about transgender individuals having the same rights as everyone else and having the freedom to express themselves and identify as they please.

This is about women and girls being able to set limits for themselves. It's also about the right to speak freely and stand up for what is true.

The writer gave a large sum of money to the Labour party in 2008, but has since been outspoken in their disapproval of the party's stance on gender issues.

She wrote in the Times that she will have a hard time supporting the Labour party as long as they continue to ignore and disrespect women who are fighting to maintain the rights that were previously believed to be secure for all time.

Responding to what she said, a representative from the Labour Party stated: "There is a clear distinction between sex and gender, as outlined in Labour's Equality Act."

That is why we have always maintained that we will not implement self ID and that we will safeguard single-sex spaces for female individuals based on biological characteristics.

According to the Equality Act 2010, it is against the law to treat someone unfairly because of their "protected characteristics".

These are characteristics that are legally protected, such as age, disability, religion, race, gender, and sexual orientation, among others.

Some people understand sex in this situation as only pertaining to biological sex, while others think it also includes individuals who have a gender recognition certificate. This is a legal paper that permits someone to alter the legal sex noted on their birth certificate.

The Conservatives have announced plans to amend the law to focus on biological sex. They believe that places like public bathrooms, hospital wards, and services like rape crisis centers should not be accessible to individuals who are biologically male but identify as female.

The Labour party believes that there is no need for this change because the Equality Act already safeguards single-sex spaces for biological women. However, they have also stated that they would provide more explicit guidelines on this issue if they are successful in the upcoming general election.

Rowling also criticized Sir Keir Starmer for not standing by Rosie Duffield when she faced threats and abuse, some of which came from members of the Labour Party.

Recently, Ms Duffield, who is running for re-election in Canterbury, explained that she had not participated in election debates because of ongoing harassment online. She also revealed that she had spent £2,000 on security guards during her campaign.

Labour member Lord Cashman was temporarily banned from the Labour Party in Parliament by Sir Keir for referring to Ms Duffield as "frightened or lazy" in a post on social media after she pulled out of events.

The ex-EastEnders star and Labour MEP expressed their sincere apologies for the post.

Earlier this month, someone who posted threatening messages online towards Ms Rowling and Ms Duffield was given a suspended jail sentence.

Glenn Mullen, a 31-year-old man from Clyde Road in Manchester, confessed to posting recordings in the Gaelic language where he threatened to harm Ms. Rowling using a large hammer. He also mentioned that he was planning to confront Rosie Duffield at a bar with a firearm. This information was shared during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

All the people running for office in Canterbury are:

Luke Buchanan-Hodgman, member of the Social Democratic Party

Bridget Porter, from the Reform UK party

Henry Stanton, member of the Green Party

Russ Timpson, a member of the Liberal Democrats