Rowling gives £70k to battle over men changing gender
JK ROWLING has donated £70,000 to a feminist group to help their bid to obtain a “historic” Supreme Court ruling stating that men cannot become women.
The Harry Potter author pledged the cash to For Women Scotland, which is in a long-running legal battle with the Scottish Government over whether men can become female under UK law.
The group won an earlier case in which it was found that the SNP’S position that anyone who identified as a woman should be counted as one, for the purposes of gender quotas introduced for public boards, was unlawful.
However, it has lost a case which challenged rewritten guidance that said biological men counted as women if they had a gender recognition certificate (GRC) reflecting female identity.
Rowling donated £70,000 within hours of the Scottish courts granting permission for the appeal. So far, more than £125,000 has been raised.
“You know how proud I am to know you,” Rowling wrote to the group after she made the donation. “Thank you for all your hard work and perseverance. This is truly a historic case.”
In December 2022, Scottish courts found that biological men can legally become women and share in their legal protections, if they obtain a GRC.
However, For Women Scotland argues this was superseded by the 2010 Equality Act, in which trans women and women are treated as distinct groups.
For Women Scotland said legal advice indicated that they had “strong grounds” for a Supreme Court appeal.
The Scottish Government did not oppose the application, saying there were “arguable points of law of general public importance”.