JK’s as brave as Potter to take fight to gender trolls

WAS J.K. rowling channelling her fearless hero Harry Potter when she took on the trans rights lobby? She spoke out in support of a woman who had lost her job after questioning Government plans to let people declare their own gender.

The woman concerned, Maya Forstater, 45, believes that ‘sex is a biological fact and is immutable’. and that therefore transgender people cannot change their sex.

Perhaps she’s right, perhaps she’s wrong, but surely she has a right to voice an opinion on one of the most vexed issues of our time.

Not according to the employment tribunal judge she faced. Incredibly, he deemed that her view was ‘not worthy of respect’ — and might even constitute ‘unlawful harassment’ of trans people.

Not worthy of respect? Harassment? Simply for expressing a firmly held view? Clearly rowling felt as incredulous — and angry — as most reasonable people would over this extraordinary judgment.

For, make no mistake, she will not have made her decision to intervene lightly. She has a formidable reputation to protect as well as 14.6 million Twitter followers.

Now, all of them will have seen her tweet on the issue: ‘Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consulting adult who will have you. Live your life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?’

rowling clearly felt she had to take a stand — and in doing so has been subjected to an onslaught of abuse on social media.

Yet she could not be further from a reactionary — she is an incredibly successful, self- made, Laboursupporting feminist who has actually endured criticism for being so politically correct.

What she is doing is expressing the concerns of millions over the politicisation of transgender issues without sufficient debate.

We now have self-identifying female prisoners raping other women in jail, women frightened to change in female changing rooms and doctors expressing deep concerns — even though they work in the field.

a 13- year- old girl, unnamed to protect her from the trans trolls, is fighting her local oxfordshire council’s decision to make their schools’ changing rooms and their toilets gender neutral.

The ‘tiny teen girl’ — vulnerable and confused in the throes of puberty — says it would be ‘embarrassing’.

What rowling is doing is suggesting we should stand up for people like this little girl. and take the battle to the trolls — just as Harry Potter would.