British author J.K. Rowling published a lengthy update on her website Wednesday, titled “An Update to My Essay of June 2020.” She stated that her views on sex and gender have not changed but that “the landscape certainly has, and my own involvement in the issue has become practical as well as theoretical.”
In the piece, Rowling reiterated her opposition to what she called “the current, dominant strain of trans activism, which holds that a man who declares himself a woman is, literally, a woman, and is therefore entitled to be treated as a woman in all contexts.” She listed implications she rejects, including access to women’s changing rooms, eligibility for women’s awards or jobs, participation on women’s sports teams, inclusion in lesbian dating pools, and placement of male-bodied individuals (including those convicted of rape) in women’s prisons.
She described twenty-first-century trans activism as “the very inverse” of twentieth-century civil, gay, and women’s rights movements, calling it “elitist to its core.” According to Rowling, it originated in philosophy and gender studies departments, was adopted by cultural, political, and state institutions, and was then imposed “top down” on people who “never voted for it and, as all available polls show, do not believe in it.” She specifically named lobby groups such as Stonewall, which she said had received “sizeable amounts of British tax-payer money” and convinced corporations and institutions that women no longer have a right to single-sex spaces.
Rowling detailed her practical work since speaking out in 2019. She contributed to the book The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht on women’s issues in Scotland, appeared on the podcast The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, founded and funds Beira’s Place (Edinburgh’s only women-only rape crisis center), and created the J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund to support women in the UK and Ireland seeking to protect their legal rights. She said applications to the fund involving private corporations have “dropped markedly” since the UK Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling that “woman” in equality legislation refers to biological sex, while many state-run institutions remain resistant, continuing what she termed “Stonewall Law.”
She wrote that not all women are equally affected, noting that more privileged women (including some in media, publishing, academia, and politics) face fewer practical consequences and may benefit from the “fashionability” of the views. She criticized “headline-hungry female politicians whose attitude to women’s rights is ‘whatever is good for me personally’” and women who have “vilified members of their own sex for fighting to retain their hard-won rights and single-sex spaces.” At the same time, she wrote that there are “vulnerable trans people,” that trans people should not face discrimination in housing or employment, and that they should not be stripped of human rights or denied personal safety.
The original June 10, 2020 essay drew significant attention and backlash. In is, Rowling outlined five reasons for her concern, including effects on charities she supports, safeguarding and education, free speech, the sharp rise in referrals of young women and girls (including autistic girls) for transition, and the erosion of sex-based rights and realities for women. It also referenced her personal history and concerns about rapid-onset gender dysphoria and the removal of gatekeeping for medical transition.
Coverage of the update appeared quickly in outlets including The Independent, Variety, AFP, PinkNews, and Newsweek. Reports focused on Rowling’s reaffirmation that her views are unchanged, her characterization of the activism as elitist, her references to threats, and her ongoing financial and practical involvement.
Newsweek noted it had contacted Stonewall and Amnesty International (the latter criticized in the essay for labelling Beira’s Place “anti-rights”) for comment. As of press time, no immediate public statements from UK government ministers, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, or Stonewall responding specifically to the new essay were prominently reported in initial coverage.
The essay arrives against the backdrop of the April 2025 UK Supreme Court clarification on the Equality Act, ongoing disputes over single-sex spaces and services, and recent protests targeting Harry Potter-related events, including a disruption at a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child performance in London. Rowling has long rejected characterizations of her views as transphobic, framing them instead as a defense of women’s sex-based rights and free speech.
Rowling said she and others have faced “an avalanche of death, rape and torture threats.” She closed her 2000-word update by quoting George Orwell — “freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two is four” — and affirmed she would continue speaking out, fund legal cases for women who cannot afford them, and ensure women in her area can access female-delivered, female-centered support after rape.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
Photo “JK Rowling” by JK Rowling.
