Harry Potter author claims former first minister refuses to accept opposition to her Bill was driven by normal women

JK Rowling led a feminist backlash on Monday against Nicola Sturgeon after she was accused of “rewriting history” over the gender self-ID law controversy.

The Harry Potter author said the former Scottish first minister was attempting to invent a “worthy adversary” to blame for the public opposition her gender Bill provoked.

Instead, Ms Sturgeon was refusing to accept the backlash had been driven by normal women who were outraged over her plans, Rowling said.

It followed a series of Scottish women’s groups signing a joint letter urging Ms Sturgeon to name the “forces” she recently claimed had “muscled in” on the trans debate in Scotland as part of an agenda to “push back rights generally”.

In a round of media interviews, she raised eyebrows by claiming there was no “massive public opposition” to her law until it passed. At the time it was seen as one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in Holyrood’s history and it provoked an unprecedented SNP rebellion.

Ms Sturgeon’s self-ID law would have allowed any Scot aged 16 and over to change their legal sex simply by signing a declaration, but it was later blocked by the UK Government meaning it never came into force.

Nicola Sturgeon resigned as first minister in March 2023 Credit: Robert Perry

Responding to the letter calling on Ms Sturgeon to name the “forces” she was referring to, Rowling said: “Her ego requires her signature Bill to have been opposed by something she considers a worthy adversary, rather than members of the public who don’t want cross-dressing men running rape crisis centres.”

She suggested that someone buy Ms Sturgeon the book “The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht” for Christmas, a series of essays about the grassroots opposition to the self-ID law, which Rowling contributed to.

The letter to Ms Sturgeon was signed by seven feminist groups including For Women Scotland, which is awaiting a ruling from Supreme Court judges about the legal impact of gender recognition certificates (GRCs), which the self-ID law would have made widely available to Scots.

In the legal case, Scottish Government lawyers undermined assurances Ms Sturgeon and other SNP ministers gave while their Bill was being scrutinised at Holyrood.

They accepted GRCs change a person’s sex for the purposes of the Equality Act and bestow significant new rights on those who hold them, whereas previously the law had been presented as bringing about a minor bureaucratic change.

The letter to Ms Sturgeon urged her to “move away from dropping broad hints” and to present evidence to back up her claims.

Rowling at the launch of her novel The Casual Vacancy, for which she adopted a male pseudonym, Robert Galbraith Credit: IAN WEST/PA

“If you believe that there are groups or individuals with an agenda to ‘push back rights generally’ who are ‘muscling in’ on Scottish politics, you have a duty to state who or what you believe they are, and how you believe they are operating in Scotland, as precisely as possible,” it said.

“Then, the influence of any such groups or individuals can be properly investigated and challenged, as necessary.

“As it stands, regardless of your intentions, a person might reasonably believe you are referring to those groups or individuals who played a leading part in criticising the Scottish Government’s proposals.”

In a series of interviews last week, Ms Sturgeon drew comparisons between the acrimonious nature of rows over trans rights and the more civilised debate over gay marriage legislation, which passed a decade ago in Scotland.

She claimed a debate over equal marriage would be “much more toxic, divisive and unpleasant” had it taken place today, and bemoaned the “polarised” nature of political discourse her critics claim she was in part to blame for in Scotland.

She added: “We consulted on the [self-ID] legislation for longer than we consulted on anything else and right up until the point of the legislation passing, I don’t think it was the case that there was massive public opposition.

“But things became so toxic and opposition became so entrenched and – this is not the case for everybody who opposed that legislation – but there were forces that muscled into that debate who, I think, you know, had a bigger agenda in terms of rights more generally.”

The Scottish Tories accused Ms Sturgeon of attempting to rewrite history and shifting the blame for her own failures, pointing out that she had resolutely failed to compromise on her gender law.

A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon declined to comment.