Skip to main content
Magical thinking should have no place in law
It’s welcome that JK Rowling has spoken out in defence of Maya Forstater, who lost her job for believing that biological sex is real – but when will political leaders speak out too, asks JO BARTOSCH
Harry Potter author JK Rowling

IT turns out that Britain’s best-loved fiction writer also knows a thing or two about facts. 

Yesterday, Harry Potter author JK Rowling lent her support to Maya Forstater, a tax expert who lost her job at a think tank for questioning the idea that it is possible to change sex. 

Rowling’s tweet, sent from her account with 14 million followers, read: “Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you, Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?” Rowling added the hashtags “IStandWithMaya” and “ThisIsNotADrill.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Jeffrey Epstein
International Women’s Day 2026 / 7 March 2026
7 March 2026

The legacy of socialist feminists such as Alexandra Kollontai challenges us today to confront an uncomfortable truth: framing prostitution as empowerment lets the abusers of the Epstein class off the hook, warns HELEN O’CONNOR

Ash Regan MSP
Voices of Scotland / 23 December 2025
23 December 2025

As Ash Regan’s Unbuyable Bill sparks debate in Scotland, the real issue remains unaddressed: a digitalised sex industry and a neoliberal economy that repackages exploitation as empowerment while leaving women’s material conditions unchanged, argues LAUREN HARPER

Feminist books
Features / 16 December 2025
16 December 2025

Held at a last-minute undisclosed venue amid fear of disruption, a Women’s Rights Network event brought together authors and activists, offering a day of debate on feminism’s past, present and future. JADE MIDDLETON reports

feminists
Books / 28 August 2025
28 August 2025

WILL PODMORE welcomes the case put by a feminist, disentangling the abusive rhetoric of the trans rights debate