JK Rowling has accused Keir Starmer of publicly misrepresenting equalities law, in what she says is “yet another indication that the Labour party can no longer be counted on to defend women’s rights”.
The Harry Potter author was responding to comments the Labour leader gave to the Times when asked to define a woman.
Starmer, formerly the director of public prosecutions, the most senior prosecutor in England and Wales, said: “A woman is a female adult, and in addition to that trans women are women, and that is not just my view, that is actually the law. It has been the law through the combined effects of the 2004 [Gender Recognition] Act and the 2010 [Equality] Act.”
He called for reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, under which people diagnosed with gender dysphoria who have lived in their acquired gender for at least two years can apply to be legally recognised.
“The process that people have to go through does need to be looked at,” he told the Times. “If you talk to anybody who’s been through the process, there’s a real issue about respect and dignity.”
On Saturday Rowling said in a tweet: “I don’t think our politicians have the slightest idea how much anger is building among women from all walks of life at the attempts to threaten and intimidate them out of speaking publicly about their own rights, their own bodies and their own lives.
“Among the thousands of letters and emails I’ve received are disillusioned members of Labour, the Greens, the Lib Dems and the SNP....
Ryan Amacher, who played role in bid to damage campaign, has also made antisemitic and racist posts on social media An influencer who played a key role in hoax claims that James Talarico was in a ...