JK Rowling has called for Keir Starmer to apologise following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the term, woman.
Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the term “woman” is based on biological sex. This means transgender women who have a gender recognition certificate are not “women” under law.
The case came around after campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS) challenged the Scottish government over the definition of “women” in a law governing female representation on public boards.
Supreme Court judges found that the definition of a woman under the Equalities Act 2010 is restricted to “biological women and biological sex”.
Reading out the ruling on Wednesday, UK Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge urged against the judgement being seen as a “triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another.”
However, these words were seemingly ignored by Rowling, who decided to post a celebratory picture after the news.
Sharing a post on X following the ruling, Rowling posted a picture of herself with a drink in hand and smoking a cigar.
She captioned the post: “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Now Rowling has urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to apologise following the ruling.
Taking to X, the Harry Potter author wrote a lengthy tweet reading: “Women have fought (and are still fighting) the single biggest land grab on their rights in my lifetime. Some have sacrificed their livelihoods and safety to combat a pernicious ideology that has infiltrated elite institutions, including government.
“Women have been persecuted, harassed, smeared, roughed up and forced to take employers to court for discrimination. They’ve suffered severe detriments purely for believing what the Supreme Court has ruled to be reasonable and correct: that women are a definable biological class that has specific rights under the law to which males, however they identify, are not entitled.
“Do these politicians have any shame? They sided with the persecutors, the issuers of death and rape threats, the violent men demanding access to women’s and girls’ protected spaces, including domestic abuse shelters, rape crisis centres and prison cells.
“Will any of them issue an apology or admit that they made a serious error in siding with well-funded activist groups lying about what the law actually said, and which had measurable, severe impact on some of society’s most vulnerable women?
“As another public wave of death threats is issued against women because of the Supreme Court ruling, their silence has become deafening. I’m just one of millions of women disgusted by the lack of accountability or remorse. We will not forget.”
She also shared a tweet reading: “We have written to Keir Starmer urging him to condemn the harassment, discrimination, violence and intimidation suffered by women over the weekend.”
This wasn’t Rowling’s first post following the ruling, with the Harry Potter author having earlier congratulated FWS.
She said in a post on X that the ruling “protected the rights of women and girls across the UK”.
She continued: “It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they’ve protected the rights of women and girls across the UK. @ForWomenScot, I’m so proud to know you.”
In the judgement, Lord Hodge also emphasised that transgender people were still protected by law under the Equality Act.
He said: “The Equality Act 2010 gives transgender people protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender.”
The Supreme Court ruling has been criticised by Amnesty International, who said the judgement was “disappointing.”
The charity said in a statement: “There are potentially concerning consequences for trans people, but it is important to stress that the court has been clear that trans people are protected under the Equality Act against discrimination and harassment.
“The ruling does not change the protection trans people are afforded under the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’, as well as other provisions under the Equality Act.
“Amnesty intervened in this case to remind the court that legal gender recognition is essential for trans people to enjoy the full spectrum of rights each of us is entitled to, including safety, health and family life.
“The Supreme Court itself today made clear that the vilification of a marginalised minority group is absolutely wrong.
“All public authorities in the UK need to unequivocally enforce protections for trans people against discrimination and harassment.”
Reacting to the ruling, health minister Karin Smyth said the government would be reviewing the judgement to “make sure we are fully compliant with it” and would be working with equality bodies to make sure organisations were fully compliant.
She said the government was not interested in “so-called culture wars” and believes everybody should have “their dignity and privacy and their rights respected”.
Related: Nicola Coughlan raises more than £100,000 for trans women after ruling