JK Rowling’s long-running spat with India Willoughby deepened today as she condemned the transgender newsreader for saying murderer Wayne Couzens would have ‘loved’ the Supreme Court gender ruling.
The UK’s highest court gave a unanimous ruling on April 16 that the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 ‘refer to a biological woman and biological sex’.
This means transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces such as toilets or changing rooms if ‘proportionate’.
Harry Potter author Rowling has been among those celebrating the ruling on social media, having been at the forefront of women’s rights campaigns in recent years.
But Willoughby has criticised it, tweeting on April 19: ‘I’ll tell you who would have LOVED the new ‘Prove You’re A Woman’ ruling from the UK Supreme Court: Wayne Couzens. The policeman who murdered Sarah Everard. Agree @PatsyeStevenson?’
Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life order after he abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in March 2021 while he was a serving Metropolitan Police officer.
Early this morning, Rowling angrily responded to Willoughby’s tweet, saying: ‘Every time you think @IndiaWilloughby can’t go any lower he hits a deeper layer of subsoil.
‘Rapists and woman-killers tend not to ‘love’ legal restrictions on where and how they can access vulnerable females. If you’re capable of feeling shame, India, now would be the moment.’
JK Rowling (left) has been in a long-running spat with trans presenter India Willoughby (right)
In a tweet today, JK Rowling condemned India Willoughby for her post about Wayne Couzens
The tweet posted by India Willoughby about Wayne Couzens on April 19 following the ruling
Rowling, 59, has continued to label Willoughby, also 59, as a ‘man’, despite the journalist – who was born Jonathan – transitioning to become a woman in 2015.
Patsy Stevenson – who was mentioned in Willoughby’s tweet – was among the women arrested at a vigil for Miss Everard in Clapham Common soon after her death, while pandemic restrictions were active.
The Met later paid damages to Stevenson who bills herself as a gender equality campaigner but still condemned the ruling as ‘devastating for the trans community’.
Stevenson has not responded on social media to Willoughby’s tweet, but said on April 18 of the ruling: ‘All women will be at risk. Trans women should not be subject to this, and you think an officer won’t lie about thinking a cis woman is trans just to strip search them?
‘Every woman is going to be forced to endure strip searches by male officers. What the f**k.’
Patsy Stevenson – who was mentioned in Willoughby’s tweet – was among the women arrested at a vigil for Sarah Everard in London’s Clapham Common soon after her death in March 2021
Sarah Everard was murdered by Wayne Couzens after disappearing while walking home
Last week, Rowling described Willoughby as ‘the gift that keeps on giving’ in a separate online spat in which she insisted that the broadcaster ‘remains a man’.
That came after Willoughby, who was Loose Women’s first transgender co-host, said the court’s decision marked a ‘grim day for Britain’.
Rowling was previously pictured celebrating last week’s ruling with a drink and a cigar on board her superyacht.
The author has since accused the Prime Minister of siding ‘with the persecutors’ and showing a lack of remorse amid his U-turn on gender.
She warned earlier this week that women would not forget the stance taken by Sir Keir Starmer and other politicians who had backed trans activist groups.
In 2022 Sir Keir stated ‘trans women are women’ but flip-flopped on Tuesday after the Supreme Court’s ruling and said ‘a woman is a biological woman’.
It sparked anger from Rowling who labelled those who could only now ‘muster the truth’ as ‘cowards’.
Rowling celebrated last week’s court ruling with a drink and a cigar on board her superyacht
Campaigners Susan Smith (left) and Marion Calder (right), co-directors of For Women Scotland, celebrate outside the Supreme Court in London the ruling on April 16
Campaigners take part in a rally organised by trans rights groups, trade unions, and community organisations at Parliament Square in London on April 19, three days after the court ruling
She wrote: ‘Will any of them issue an apology or admit they made a serious error in siding with activist groups lying about what the law said, and which had measurable, severe impact on some of society’s most vulnerable women?’
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir refused to concede he was wrong to say ‘trans women are women’ after being repeatedly challenged by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch over his shifting views on gender.
Rowling has been hit by accusations of transphobia in recent years and has associated herself with the acronym ‘Terf’ (trans-exclusionary radical feminism).
Her views have prompted many of the stars who acquired fame and fortune through the Harry Potter franchise to either support or condemn her.
Leading actors such as Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have all distanced themselves from Rowling and spoken out in support of transgender people.
But other stars have expressed their horror over Rowling’s treatment, including Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter.
However, Rowling was this week branded a ‘heinous loser’ by The Last Of Us actor Pedro Pascal, whose sister Lux recently came out as a transgender woman.