‘Wouldn’t touch your new Harry Potter’: Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan rips JK Rowling over UK trans ruling celebration

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Nicola Coughlan slams JK Rowling over anti-trans views

On April 16, Rowling shared a post on her X, where she held a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other. It seemed like a celebratory post, as she gloated on X, ‘It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court, and, in winning, they’ve protected the rights of women and girls across the UK.” Many felt her celebration was over-the-top and mean-spirited. She even joked about relaxing with a drink and a cigar afterwards, which made her seem even more heartless to critics. This kind of reaction isn’t new for Rowling, who has spent years using her influence and money to spread views that many see as anti-trans. According to The Cut, she supports a group called For Women Scotland, which pushes for legal definitions of “woman” to only include people born female.

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The court ruled that trans people in the country are still protected legally and can’t be treated unfairly “on the ground of gender reassignment.” But if a trans woman has official documents saying she is female, for some legal purposes, she won’t be counted as a woman. Coughlan, on the other hand, posted a video on her Instagram, sharing she was “completely horrified” with the decision. “To see an already marginalised community be further attacked, and attacked in law,  is really stomach-turning and disgusting,” she told her followers. “And to see people celebrate it is more stomach-turning and disgusting.”

“If you are a cisgender person who is an ally of a trans person, I think now is the time to just speak up and make your voice heard, and let your trans, nonbinary friends and just the community at large know that you’re there for them and will keep fighting for them,” she added.

 

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Bowen Yang calls out JK Rowling

Saturday Night Live Bowen Yang also criticised Rowling on Instagram after she captioned one of her celebratory photos with “I love it when a plan comes together,” along with hashtags like #SupremeCourt and #WomensRights. Yang posted a photo of himself with a clear message of disapproval. He captioned it, “Absolute f— u to jk rowling,” adding the transgender pride flag emoji. But Rowling isn’t backing down. In another post, she wrote, “The fact that so many UK trans activists are shrieking about injustice says it all. You never had the rights you claim you’ve now lost; you had demands.”