'Utterly ashamed!' JK Rowling blasted by Lisa Nandy as MP challenged over trans policy
Lisa Nandy has taken a swipe at author JK Rowling, after being challenged over her position on trans recognition
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Lisa Nandy has taken a swipe at author JK Rowling, after being challenged over her position on trans recognition.
Speaking at the press gallery lunch, the Labour frontbencher insisted the transgender debate should not be reduced to “bodily parts”.
She also suggested that people with views similar to Rowling's will be "utterly ashamed" of themselves in the future.
This came after the Harry Potter author hit out at Nandy for being "one of the biggest reasons many women on the Left no longer trust Labour".
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Rowling criticised Nandy on Tuesday, after she published an extract of her Labour conference speech on X, saying: "Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are non-negotiable. My absolute priority will be to embolden and empower women and girls in every part of the world.”
Rowling responded: "You said rapists should be transferred to women’s prisons if they self-identify as women.
"You called Woman’s Place UK a hate group. Given that you’re one of the biggest reasons many women on the left no longer trust Labour to defend their rights, do you stand by these comments?”
In 2020, Nandy backed a motion calling on the party to expel "transphobic members", dubbing campaigns such as Women's Place "trans-exclusionist hate groups".
Rowling has been a vocal critic of trans inclusionary politics, arguing the expansion of trans rights and self-identification is a threat to women's rights and spaces.
Asked yesterday if women can trust Labour, in reference to Rowling's remarks, Nandy told journalists: “Yes, they can. It breaks my heart, actually.
"We’re re-reading Harry Potter at the moment in my house, with an eight-year-old who is absolutely Harry Potter obsessed.
“And I don’t think we should end up in an oppositional relationship where we’re talking about some of the most marginalised, discriminated against women and girls on the planet and we can’t have that debate.
“Because there’s a genuine conversation to be had about the rights of transgender people and the protection of safe spaces and hard-fought rights for women.”
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Rowling has been a vocal critic of trans inclusionary politics, arguing the expansion of trans rights and self-identification is a threat to women's rights and spaces
PA
Seemingly taking a swipe at Rowling, she added: “I think when I look at the way we reduce that debate to things like bodily parts, I think when we look back in history, we’re going to be utterly ashamed of ourselves.”
Rowling has been an outspoken figure in the Trans Exclusionary Feminist (TERF) movement, which seeks to protect women's spaces from what they see as encroachment by trans activists.