JK Rowling celebrates after historic Supreme Court women ruling

JK Rowling has claimed today as 'TERF VE Day' as she shared a toast with her husband to celebrate the Supreme Court ruling that trans women are not legally women in a landmark judgment. 

The Harry Potter author claimed today's decision, which found the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act referred to biological sex, as a major victory for 'the rights of women and girls across the UK'. 

She also praised the women's group For Women Scotland, who launched the long-running legal battle against the Scottish government over the definition of a 'woman' in Scottish law.

The 59-year-old shared a photo of what appeared to be two glasses of prosecco under a sunny canopy, as she toasted the decision with her husband Neil. 

Alongside the image, she wrote: 'We toasted you @ForWomenScot. Neil says it’s TERF VE Day [laughing emoji] #SupremeCourt #WomensRights'

The case centred on whether somebody with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) recognising their gender as female should be protected from discrimination as a woman under the Equality Act.

The Scottish government had argued that such people were entitled to sex-based protections, meaning a transgender person with a GRC certificate identifying them as female would count towards women's quota.

But campaign group For Women Scotland claimed they only applied to people born female.

The court ruled that the words 'sex', 'man' and 'woman' in the Equality Act must mean 'biological sex', rejecting any alternative interpretations as 'incoherence and impracticable'.

The ruling comes after years of campaigning by gender-critical figures including Harry Potter author Rowling, who reacted today by posting on X: 'It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they've protected the rights of women and girls across the UK. @ForWomenScot, I'm so proud to know you.' 

She later added: 'Trans people have lost zero rights today, although I don't doubt some (not all) will be furious that the Supreme Court upheld women's sex-based rights.' 

In an 88-page ruling published today, the justices said: 'The definition of sex in the Equality Act 2010 makes clear that the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man.'

They stated: 'A person with a Gender Recognition Certificate in the female gender does not come within the definition of a 'woman' under the Equality Act 2010 and the statutory guidance issued by the Scottish ministers is incorrect.'

High-profile cases which have caused controversy in recent years include that of a transgender double rapist who was jailed for eight years in February 2023 after raping two women in West Dunbartonshire and Glasgow.

The sex attacker was charged with the offences as Adam Graham, but changed gender while waiting to stand trial and took the name Isla Bryson.

The case sparked public outcry, including from JK Rowling, after Bryson was sent to the all-female Cornton Vale prison outside Stirling, before later being transferred to a male prison.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has praised today's Supreme Court ruling as a 'victory' for women and said it meant the 'era of Keir Starmer telling us women can have penises has come to an end'.