JK Rowling criticised First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Twitter Thursday morning in defence of what the author calls “women’s rights.”
The famous Harry Potter author called Sturgeon a “destroyer of women’s rights.”
She posted a photo of herself in a black T-Shirt with the slogan printed on it to Twitter on Thursday as a “trans rights” reform bill passed its first parliamentary hurdle.
The author said she stands “in solidarity with For Women Scotland” as the group leads protests to oppose Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) legislation outside of Holyrood in Edinburgh today.
The proposed bill would simplify the process of having someone’s legal gender changed and recognised, and the move has been hailed by LGBTQ+ activists as “life saving” for trans people living in Scotland.
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Sturgeon has previously defended the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The First Minister said: “This [reform] is about an existing process by which people can legally change their gender and it’s about making that process less traumatic and inhumane for trans people – one of the most stigmatised minorities in our society.
"It doesn’t give trans people any more rights, nor does it take away from women any of the current existing rights under the Equality Act.”
The proposed reform would make the process by which people can obtain a gender recognition certificate easier and thereby make it easier to gain legal recognition of a trans person’s gender.
Current procedure requires people who identify as trans to apply to a UK gender recognition panel and provide a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria as well as evidence they have lived in their acquired gender for two years.
Under the new proposals, applications would be handled by the Registrar General for Scotland with no medical report requirements. The timescale will be cut to six months after living in their new gender - rather than the current two years, and the age at which people can apply would be reduced from 18 to 16.
The proposed law is expected to be passed by Holyrood in the coming months.
A survey carried out by Savanta ComRes on behalf of the BBC found 57 percent of people in Scotland in favour of making the process to legally change gender easier, with younger adults more likely to be supportive.
Trans rights activists and groups as well as LGBTQ+ charities have also welcomed the proposed bill with open arms.
Scottish Trans said: “Scottish Trans supports these reforms, and believes they will have a marked impact on the lives of trans men and women in Scotland, who currently have to spend large amounts of time and money on a difficult, bureaucratic, and unfair process just to have the way they live recognised on some of their records.”
JK Rowling and others against “self identification” or the legal recognition of people who identify as trans have kicked off on Twitter and in the streets about the proposed reform.
A group known as For Women Scotland have led a protest against the reform in front of Edinburgh’s Holyrood house today.
The For Women Scotland website said the group believes, “that there are only two sexes, that a person’s sex is not a choice, nor can it be changed.”
JK Rowling has likewise become well-known for views against the self-identification of trans people and for her beliefs in a two-gender binary.
SNP MSP Joanna Cherry, who opposes the GRA changes said that today “feminist women who oppose self-id will protest outside Holyrood.”
"Recent events have shown many of their concerns to be valid. I hope MSPs, particularly those who have recently extolled the virtues of freedom of speech and the right to protest, will listen,” MSP Cherry said.
However, the Scottish Parliament announced this morning that the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee had, "by majority, agreed to the general principles of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill".
Committee convener and SNP MSP Joe FitzPatrick said: “The Committee [...] heard a wide range of views, from individuals and organisations, through extensive written and oral evidence.
“Whilst not all the Committee agreed, for the majority of our members it is clear that now is the time for reform of the gender recognition process and we support the general principles within the Bill.
"We believe these important reforms will improve the lives and experiences of trans people.”
The Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee members who support the proposed reform are Joe FitzPatrick [SNP], Maggie Chapman [Greens], Karen Adam [SNP], Fulton MacGregor [SNP] and Pam Duncan-Glancy [Labour].
The minority who do not support the general principles are Pam Gosal [Conservative] and Rachael Hamilton [Conservative]."
Tim Hopkins, Director of Equality Network, welcomed the committee's report at Stage One, adding: "The large majority of the Committee support the Bill, but unsurprisingly the two Tories on the Committee oppose it.
"The Bill is Supported by four out of five of the parties in the Parliament, and we hope that MSPs will approve it on the 27th".
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