Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling reacted on social media to the United Kingdom Supreme Court ruling that women must be biologically female, joking that she loves “when a plan comes together.”
The U.K. Supreme Court found this week that “the terms ‘women’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” which disqualifies transgender women from the legal category. Rowling has vocally opposed the idea that transgender women can be deemed women. After the ruling, she celebrated by posting a photo of herself smoking a cigar.
“To those celebrating the fact that I’m smoking a blunt: it’s a cigar. Even if it decided to identify as a blunt for the purposes of this celebration, it would remain objectively, provably and demonstratively a cigar,” Rowling wrote on X in a dig at transgender people.
To those celebrating the fact that I’m smoking a blunt: it’s a cigar. Even if it decided to identify as a blunt for the purposes of this celebration, it would remain objectively, provably and demonstratively a cigar. https://t.co/OsBUsrmLvZ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 16, 2025
Rowling also posted a copy of a newspaper reporting the Supreme Court’s decision, writing, “Don’t f*** with Scottish women.”
In case it wasn’t clear: don’t fuck with Scottish women 💜🤍💚🏴 pic.twitter.com/ozxXk1QNo6
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 17, 2025
Rowling’s opposition to transgender women has been put in the spotlight in recent years, previously stating that the U.K. Supreme Court’s decision would not “change what a woman is.” Rather, she argued that the court was deciding “whether or not to remove rights from women and girls.”
Last year, the author released a collection of essays revealing that her friends wanted her to keep her beliefs on transgender people to herself after she revealed to them that she found transgender women to be “dangerous” and “profoundly misogynistic.”
THE UK’S SUPREME COURT’S TRANSGENDER RULING SHOULD BE A WAKE-UP CALL FOR THE US
Through her opposition, Rowling has received several defenders, including former U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who stated that the U.K.’s Conservative Party would always seek to protect free speech. He commented this after a Scottish law forbidding “stirring up hatred” against people who are defined by several characteristics went into effect.
Likewise, actor Jim Broadbent, who portrayed Horace Slughorn in the Harry Potter film series, has defended Rowling, calling her “amazing” and the attacks against her “sad abuse.”
