JK Rowling has engaged in a furious war of words with Boy George online after he accused her of hating men following the Supreme Court‘s ruling on the legal status of transgender women.
Rowling, who also writes under the male pen name of Robert Galbraith, blasted the Culture Club singer after he said that she could not tell the difference between a transgender woman and a biological man.
The 63-year-old popstar has expressed support for transgender people online, in line with other stars such as Tilda Swinton and Pedro Pascal, who recently branded Rowling a ‘heinous loser’ on Instagram.
Responding to a tweet suggesting that Pascal – an outspoken supporter of trans rights – was a misogynist, the singer wrote: ‘Stop this nonsense that if you don’t agree with @jk_rowling you hate women. She hates men. This is where this truth lies.
‘She cannot differentiate between a ‘trans’ woman and a biological male. Which is weird with her imagination?’
But Rowling – who now tweets almost daily about what she has called ‘sex-based rights’ – fired back with an eye-rolling emoji and the retort: ‘I do not hate men.’
She wrote: ‘I’m married to a man, George. I do not hate men.
‘I simply live in reality where men – however they identify – commit 98 per cent of sexual assaults, and 88 per cent of victims are female.
‘Trans-identified men are no less likely than other kinds of men to pose a risk to women or girls.’
JK Rowling hit back at singer Boy George after he suggested she could not tell the difference between a transgender woman and a biological man
The Culture Club singer claimed that Rowling ‘hates men’ because of her campaign to protect ‘women’s sex-based rights’
She did not elaborate on how many of those committing sexual assaults were thought to be trans.
She then added: ‘Accusing me of hating men because I don’t think trans women should be given access to all women-only spaces does rather suggest that… you’re well aware that these are, in fact, men.’
Rowling has been vocal on the subject of trans people for several years; in 2018, a spokesperson explained that her ‘like’ of a tweet calling trans women ‘men in dresses’ had been a ‘middle-aged moment’
And following the Supreme Court judgment on April 17, Rowling has consistently referred to transgender women as being ‘men’.
The ruling, on an appeal brought by campaign group For Women Scotland, concluded that the legal definition of a woman was that of a biological female, when interpreting the Equality Act.
It has led to the Equality and Human Rights Commission overhauling its rules on single-sex spaces – meaning that even trans people with gender recognition certificates (GRC) are still considered to be their biological birth sex.
MPs have pointed out that the judgment will likely lead to discrimination against those who do not appear traditionally male or female.
Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent East, told Parliament on last Tuesday: ‘I do not know whether anyone else in the House has butch lesbian friends and has been with them when they have been told to get out of women’s toilets, but I have.
‘It is not pleasant; it is not nice.’
And the ruling likely means that transgender men – who are considered biologically female – will be required to use women’s toilets, even if they appear male and have, for example, a beard.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg yesterday: ‘First of all, would a trans man want to use that woman’s toilet? And secondly, if they go into that woman’s toilet, that could cause some anxiety, obviously.
‘And even worse than that, because safety should be the core of how we test these different guidelines, would that mean that a man could go into a woman’s toilet and say, “Oh, I’m a trans man”? That would cause even more worries.’
Boy George was responding to a tweet criticising Pedro Pascal. The actor (above) has been unequivocal in his support for transgender people (seen in the viral ‘Protect the Dolls’ t-shirt sold in support of trans rights)
The Supreme Court ruling on April 17 was brought about following an appeal by For Women Scotland (above). Judges were keen to stress that the ruling was not to be seen as a ‘triumph’
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has hurried to update guidance on single-sex spaces, banning transgender people from their preferred toilets
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has predicted that the changes will see masculine-looking transgender men being forced to use women’s toilets – causing ‘anxiety’
The ruling has also provoked a series of protests across the UK (a London protest pictured on April 19)
Judges were keen to stress that the judgment was not to be interpreted as a ‘triumph’ for any particular side.
Rowling then shared an image of herself on her nine-figure superyacht, smoking a cigar with a glass of alcohol in her hand.
‘I love it when a plan comes together,’ she wrote, channeling Hannibal Smith, of 1980s TV show The A-Team.
Figures on transgender offenders and the risk they are said to pose are sparse and rarely reported.
Ministry of Justice figures submitted to the Women and Equalities Select Committee showed that, as of spring 2019, there were 129 individuals born as men who identified as transgender women in Ministry of Justice prisons.
These did not include any trans prisoners with gender recognition certificates (GRCs), who were considered to identify with their chosen gender prior to the Supreme Court judgement.
Of the 129, 76 were imprisoned for sex offences – 56.9 per cent of all male-born transgender women in the prison system.
A paper by Oxford sociology progressor Michael Biggs published in 2020 found that of the 124 sexual assaults reported in women’s prisons since 2010, seven were committed by trans-identifying prisoners – around five per cent.
In recent weeks, Swinton, Pascal and singer Troye Sivan have been pictured in a t-shirt reading ‘Protect the Dolls’ – ‘dolls’ being an affectionate term for trans women among members of the LGBT community.
The t-shirt, designed by fashion designer Connor Ives, was launched in the wake of Donald Trump’s inauguration – but found a new lease of life among pro-trans activists in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month.
Sales from the £75 t-shirt have supported US-based charity Trans Lifeline.
Pascal, whose sister Lux is a transgender woman, has been unequivocal in his stance on trans rights.
In February, he shared the quote: ‘A world without trans people has never existed and never will’, sparking anger from gender-critical fans.
Many of the child stars of the Harry Potter films, meanwhile, have distanced themselves from Rowling over her views on transgender people.
