JK Rowling has shared a celebratory post on social media following the Supreme Court’s ruling on what the legal definition of a woman is.
On 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.”
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”.