JK Rowling blasts Labour for backing Nicola Sturgeon’s controversial gender self-ID laws

Labour has come under fire from J.K. Rowling after she accused it of ignoring public and members’ opinion in backing Nicola Sturgeon‘s plans to allow Scots to self-identify their legal gender.

Ms Rowling donated £1 million to Labour in 2008, but has now accused the Scottish branch of the party of ignoring criticism of the legislation from the UN and Equality and Human Rights Commission.

In her latest attack on the Scottish First Minister, the Harry Potter author also claimed Ms Sturgeon had ignored criticism of the new Gender Recognition Bill, treating it as an ‘impertinence’. 

She tweeted: ‘@ScottishLabour continues to ignore public opinion, criticism from both the UN and the EHRC and widespread opposition from women in its own ranks and supports Sturgeon, meaning that the Tories have been handed an open goal on safeguarding’. 

The Gender Recognition Reform Bill is set to remove the requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria when seeking a gender recognition certificate.

It will also reduce the length of time an applicant must live in their acquired gender from two years to three months, with an additional three-month reflection period.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling accused Scottish Labour of handing the Tories ‘an open goal’ on women’s safeguarding in its backing of Nicola Sturgeon’s plans to allow Scots to self-identify their legal gender

Defending the Bill earlier this week, Ms Sturgeon told Holyrood that violent men ‘do not need’ to legally change gender to access women-only spaces

Defending the Bill earlier this week, Ms Sturgeon told Holyrood that violent men ‘do not need’ to legally change gender to access women-only spaces. 

In its final stage and set to be enacted by Christmas, it aims to simplify the process by which a transgender person can switch gender through ‘self-identification’, and lowers the age limit of gender reform from 18 to 16.

Earlier this week, Reem Alsalem, the UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, wrote a 4,500-word letter to the UK government urging a ‘thorough assessment’ of the proposed legislation.  

It called for a ‘thorough assessment of all foreseeable consequences’ of the bill, describing it as ‘unfair, rushed, vague and contradictory’ in its current form.

Ms Alsalem added the proposals ‘would potentially open the door for violent males who identify as men to abuse the process of acquiring a gender certificate’.

Reem Alsalem, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, penned a 4,500-word letter to the UK government urging a ‘thorough assessment’ of the proposed legislation, which she described as ‘unfair, rushed, vague and contradictory’ in its current form

Referencing Ms Alsalem’s comments as well as comments from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Ms Rowling claimed that Ms Sturgeon was ignoring ‘serious concerns’ around the Bill.

Her latest string of tweets come after she previously accused Nicola Sturgeon of being a ‘destroyer of women’s rights’. 

Some Scottish Labour members expressed ‘grave’ concerns about the Bill and their party’s support for it, a leaked report disclosed this week.

But the limited number of female respondents – just 165 – to the online survey meant its legitimacy was brought into question. 

The Bill sparked a rebellion by nine SNP MSPs during the first parliamentary vote on it last month, but support by Labour MSPs helped to carry it.