JK Rowling has disclosed that she listed her religion in Scotland’s census as “believer in biology” as part of a feminist protest against the survey which allowed people to self-identify their gender.

The Harry Potter author, who lives in Edinburgh, said she was one of nearly 3,000 people to provide the response to the religion question in the 2022 census.

Feminist campaigners For Women Scotland had urged people to state “believer in biology” after the survey’s official guidance allowed people to self-identify their gender.

They argued that biological sex should instead be recorded in order to protect women’s rights and ensure that the data collected on gender was based on biology.

The census in the rest of the UK was conducted a year earlier, in 2021, and asked a binary sex question with the only answers permitted being “male” or “female”.

This followed a successful legal challenge by the campaign group Fair Play For Women (FPFW). A similar challenge by FPFW in Scotland failed.

National Records of Scotland published a new breakdown of the census showing that 2,883 people had provided the “believer in biology” response.

Professor Sarah Pedersen, a feminist academic, posted on X: “Fascinating to see from Scottish census data published today that nearly 3,000 people identified their religion as ‘believer in biology’ in a coordinated protest led by For Women Scotland.”

Ms Rowling replied: “I was one of those people.”

The author has repeatedly argued that trans women are not women and should not have access to female safe spaces, such as changing rooms.

She was an outspoken opponent of Nicola Sturgeon’s legislation to allow Scots to self-identify their legal gender. It was blocked by the UK Government over concerns it undermined protections for women.