JK Rowling donates £70k to challenge ruling that men can become women

The Harry Potter author pledged the cash to For Women Scotland, who are going to the UK’s highest court in a long-running legal battle with the Scottish Government over whether biological men can legally become female under UK law.

The group won an earlier case in which it was found that the SNP’s position that anyone who identified as a woman should be counted as one, for the purposes of gender quotas introduced for public boards, was unlawful.

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While the issue centres around Holyrood legislation intended to boost the number of women on public boards, the case will have far wider ramifications for the legal status of trans people in Britain.

Ms Rowling donated the £70,000 sum within hours of the Scottish courts granting permission for the Supreme Court appeal. So far, more than £125,000 has been raised towards the group’s estimated costs of £200,000 in an online crowdfunder.

“You know how proud I am to know you,” Ms Rowling wrote to the group in a message after she made the donation. “Thank you for all your hard work and perseverance. This is truly a historic case.”

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Rowling mocked trans activists who had criticised her for making the donation.

Some attacked her for not spending that cash on something else, and argued that if For Women Scotland succeeded the case would drastically erode the legal rights of trans people.

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‘Strong grounds’ for an appeal

In a controversial ruling in December 2022, the Scottish courts found that biological men can legally become women and share in their legal protections, if they obtain a GRC.

This is mainly because the 2004 Gender Recognition Act, UK-wide legislation, states that the documents mean a person becomes a member of their “acquired” sex “for all purposes”.

However, For Women Scotland argues this was superseded by the 2010 Equality Act, in which trans women and women are treated as two protected, but distinct, groups.

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For Women Scotland said they had obtained legal advice indicating that they had “strong grounds” for an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Scottish Government did not oppose the application to appeal, conceding there were “arguable points of law of general public importance”.

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