JK Rowling vows to keep using her fortune to fund legal battles over trans rights
The Harry Potter author has pledged to continue financing women taking legal action over sex and gender, as she doubles down on her long-running opposition to what she calls “trans activism”.
JK Rowling has vowed to continue using her personal fortune to fund legal battles connected to trans rights, declaring that she will keep financially supporting women who take cases to court.
The Harry Potter author made the pledge in a new essay published on Wednesday (21 October), revisiting the views on sex and gender that have made her one of the most prominent and divisive voices in the debate over trans equality.
Rowling wrote: “I’ll continue to speak out, continue to use my money to help women who otherwise couldn’t afford to go to court.”
She used the essay to launch a fresh attack on what she describes as “trans activism”, calling its “current, dominant strain” “elitist to its core” and arguing that policies intended to include trans people can conflict with women’s rights and single-sex provision.
Rowling strongly denies being transphobic and acknowledged in the piece that there are “vulnerable trans people”.
However, her intervention comes after years of controversy over her statements about trans people and amid an increasingly fraught political and legal climate for the trans community in the UK.
Rowling characterised the new essay as an update to a lengthy piece she published in 2020, saying her views had not changed but that her involvement in the issue had become “practical as well as theoretical”.
Her financial involvement is particularly significant given the role the courts have played in determining the rights of trans people in Britain.
In April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. The judgment was celebrated by gender-critical campaigners, including Rowling, but prompted serious concerns among LGBTQ+ organisations and trans people about its implications for their everyday lives and access to services.
Rowling has now made clear she has no intention of stepping back from the legal and political battles surrounding the issue.
The author also claimed she had faced an “avalanche of death, rape and torture threats” as a result of her views. Threats and harassment against anyone are unacceptable, irrespective of their position in the debate.
Her stance has repeatedly put her at odds with stars of the Harry Potter film franchise. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have all previously distanced themselves from her views, with Radcliffe and Watson among those to have publicly expressed support for trans people.
Rowling's comments and associations have also prompted protests and boycotts from trans rights campaigners, including demonstrations connected to Harry Potter events.
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