Actors who have starred in JK Rowling adaptations sign trans solidarity letter
Actors who have starred in JK Rowling adaptations have signed an open letter standing 'in solidarity' with members of the LGBT+ community 'impacted' by the recent UK Supreme Court ruling on gender.
The Harry Potter author, 59, who has been outspoken on gender issues, supported the ruling, which said that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne, who led the Fantastic Beasts films, and Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the Harry Potter film series, are among the stars who have signed the open letter addressed to film and TV industry bodies, encouraging them to support the trans community.
Eddie Redmayne at a Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them worldwide fan event (Ian West/PA)
Ghosts actress Charlotte Ritchie, who appeared as a student in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, and Breeders star Daisy Haggard, who voiced the Ministry Of Magic lift in the Harry Potter films, also signed the letter.
Another signatory was Bridgerton actress Bessie Carter, the daughter of Imelda Staunton, who played Dolores Umbridge in the popular films about witchcraft and wizardry.
The letter said that the signatories wish to 'add our voices to the 2000+ signatories of the Open Letter from UK Writers to the Trans Community published last week', which was signed by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies and Chewing Gum's Michaela Coel.
Signatories of the film and TV letter include The Brutalist actor Joe Alwyn, Babygirl star Harris Dickinson, The Last Of Us actor Bella Ramsey, Happy Valley star James Norton, and Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan, who previously said she was 'disgusted' by the ruling.
The letter said: 'We believe the ruling undermines the lived reality and threatens the safety of trans, non-binary, and intersex people living in the UK.'
JK Rowling (Andrew Milligan/PA)
The letter called on organisations including Bafta and the BBC to join them in 'condemning' the Supreme Court ruling by 'using their public platforms to make meaningful commitments to protecting trans, non-binary, and intersex members, talent and staff from discrimination within their respective organisations.'
It said: 'Film and television are powerful tools for empathy and education, and we believe passionately in the ability of the screen to change hearts and minds. This is our opportunity to be on the right side of history.'
Rowling appeared to celebrate the April 16 ruling by posting a photo of her smoking a cigar on social media, with the caption 'I love it when a plan comes together', with the hashtags Supreme Court and Women's Rights.
The Supreme Court decision was hailed as a victory by women's rights campaigners, but LGBT+ charity Stonewall described it as 'incredibly worrying for the trans community'.
The judges said trans people are still protected from discrimination under equalities legislation, and that this interpretation of the law does not cause disadvantage to the 'potentially vulnerable group'.
Bafta and the BBC have been approached for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Teenage Irish jockey lands first winner at Fairyhouse just hours after Leaving Cert exam
IRISH jockey Sadhbh Tormey claimed her first-ever winner just hours after sitting a Leaving Cert exam. The teenage jockey from Garristown in north Dublin saddled 'Are You In Or Out' to victory in the La Bucca Restaurants Handicap at Fairyhouse. 2 Sadhbh Tormey claimed her first-ever winner just hours after sitting a Leaving Cert exam - she finishes on Monday 2 The young jockey onboard 'Are You In Or Out' on Saturday afternoon The sensational triumph came just less than two hours before Tormey had been sitting the Construction Studies written paper. She'll officially wrap up her state exams on Monday, but on Friday afternoon she made headlines in very different fashion. Racing is in the teenagers blood as her uncles Sean Lynch and Glenn Tormey were both jockeys, while her cousin Andrew Lynch is a Cheltenham Festival-winning rider. Speaking to 'I couldn't believe it. I didn't think the line could come soon enough! I was just over the moon.' read more on sport 'I had one exam there today, and I kind of left a bit earlier than I should have! 'I don't know [how it went]! I couldn't really think straight, now, to be honest! Look, it's over now. I've one more exam Monday and then I'm done.' She went on to hail the horse, praised for giving her a dream ride, saying the horse as she beamed with pride. She added: 'Went the whole way and carried me to the line.' Most read in Horse Racing Tormey admitted that her uncle has given her inspiration before laughing. The jockey concluded: 'I wouldn't want to boost his ego now, but yeah! I'd say he's probably watching this now, the crew of them... I'd say they're all delighted.' My dad was a jockey who died in a fall two months before I was born - now I'm riding winners for Willie Mullins 'I'm only living over the road. 'I've come here all my life for the Grand National and different things. To ride my first winner here just means so much to me. I can't believe it.' Tormey has her final exam on Monday after a whirlwind weekend at Fairyhouse.
Irish Daily Mirror
16 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ian Bailey's ex-partner shares she is battling 'incurable illness'
The ex-partner of Ian Bailey has revealed she is battling an 'incurable illness' and says she would like to go to scatter his ashes with his sisters 'to say goodbye'. Jules Thomas was in a relationship with Mr Bailey – who was accused of killing French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier on December 23, 1996 – for more than 30 years before splitting with him in 2021. She revealed she has been battling an 'incurable illness' since 2021, which she said she was diagnosed with soon after Netflix released its 'biased' and 'disgusting' documentary, Sophie: A Murder in West Cork. The Welsh-born artist told us the stress of the unsolved murder case had taken a serious toll on her body. Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, she revealed: 'My consultant asked, 'were you under much stress?' I said, 'unbelievable stress.' 'It's not public knowledge but my daughters know. It was an unbelievable amount of stress. I began to feel unwell around the time the Netflix documentary came out. My immune system became very low. I was picking up every cold and flu.' She credits daily floor exercises she learned during her modern dance classes in boarding school to keep her body flexible and also gardening daily. Ms Thomas admitted: 'I'm feeling fine. I tire easily. I've a big garden. I do it on my own. I've an acre of grass to cut, I've about 10,000 plants in pots. I've a big front garden full of veg. There are ponds to clean.' In 1996, the bludgeoned body of Ms Toscan du Plantier was found outside her home in a remote part of West Cork. Mr Bailey was accused of her murder but was never charged with her killing. Ms Thomas believes she should never have been subjected to such stress over the murder, which she adamantly denies having any involvement in or knowledge of. She also backed Oscar-nominated director Jim Sheridan's claim in his new movie, Re-Creation, that Gardaí never had a 'shred of evidence' on Mr Bailey, saying authorities wrongfully arrested the pair. Starring Colm Meaney, Aidan Gilles and Vicky Krieps, Re-Creation – which premiered last week at the Tribeca Film Festival – imagines what could have unfolded if the unresolved murder had gone before a jury in Ireland. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast on Tuesday, Mr Sheridan said: 'A man who probably was 100% innocent has been castigated through life; he lived a horrible life and died a horrible death and has a horrible name. 'I don't think he killed her, and there's not a shred of evidence to say he did.' He was on two occasions detained by Gardaí for questioning in relation to the murder but was never charged. Mr Bailey – who always denied any involvement in her murder – was convicted in absentia after a trial in France in 2015. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ms Thomas said of the case: 'I should never have been subjected to that level of stress, when there was never a shred of evidence. There were two wrongful arrests. 'They had not a shred of evidence that we had anything to do with that woman. I never saw her, I never knew her. I knew of her from the people in the area. 'We knew of her but that was only because Ian worked up with [one of]the neighbours. It's a very remote track. You wouldn't know anyone unless you lived up there.' The unsolved murder was subject to many documentaries, including Netflix's Sophie: A Murder in West Cork, which aired in 2021. Earlier this year, Ms Thomas revealed she was suing Netflix and production company Lightbox Media over their 2021 documentary. She alleges filming for the production took place at her home without her permission, while also alleging that it contains falsehoods and made her a social pariah in the community she lives in West Cork. Both parties, represented by Matheson, are fully defending the claims in the case. Speaking about the Netflix documentary, Ms Thomas fumed to the Sunday Mirror: 'That shocking documentary they did was so biased. I thought it was disgusting.' Earlier this year, it was revealed Mr Bailey's sister, Kay Reynolds, would scatter her dead brother's ashes in a place he loved in West Cork. Ms Thomas also said she would've gone along with his sister to help scatter his ashes to say goodbye to the late UK journalist. And while Ms Reynolds hasn't contacted her, she said: 'She wants to keep it low key as possible.. but I would go and say goodbye.' Ms Thomas said Mr Bailey drank and took drugs to 'block out the hell he was living' after being accused of the murder. In January 2024, Mr Bailey collapsed and died from a suspected heart attack aged 66. She added: 'He had a big group of friends in Bantry. He apparently resorted to cocaine in the end because the drink wasn't doing anything. 'He needed to block out the hell he was living with so that is what he resorted to apparently.' Speaking about her own relationship with him, the 75-year-old said she couldn't live with him anymore after he would incessantly talk about the case all day. She said: 'It was ghastly what he went through but I couldn't live with him anymore. 'He never shut up about it, he went on and on and on, morning, noon and night. I couldn't sleep then. 'Before going to bed, he'd be on about, 'Oh the French are coming to get me in the middle of the night'. It went on and on and on. It was a nightmare.' It emerged Mr Bailey had been 'seriously violent' towards his Welsh-born artist girlfriend three times, which saw her also take out a protection order against him. Ms Thomas said she would regularly be stared at by people in the Schull Market on Sundays where she would sell her paintings. She said the case hindered her from earning a decent living as people were afraid to approach her. She added: 'I think it put an awful lot of people near me because they believed what the guards were saying. 'I got horrible stares at the market for years from people from Dublin or wherever in the country. The locals were lovely.'
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Brad Pitt and Bradley Cooper head out on double date in New York with stunning girlfriends Ines de Ramon and Gigi Hadid
BRAD Pitt and Bradley Cooper headed out on a double date in New York with their stunning girlfriends, Ines de Ramon and Gigi Hadid, last night. Brad, 61, held hands with 7 Brad Pitt and his stunning girlfriend Ines de Ramon headed out on a date last night Credit: Getty 7 Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid joined them for the NYC dinner Credit: BackGrid Oscar winner Brad turned heads in a shiny lavender silk shirt, left partly unbuttoned to reveal some chest hair, teamed with black velvet trousers and glossy square-toed shoes. He topped off the eye-catching look with oversized metal-framed sunglasses and his new buzzcut - a nod to his Fight Club character Tyler Durden. The shirt also echoed the lilac suit Brad wore in Mexico City earlier in the week while promoting his upcoming Formula 1 film, F1. Ines stunned in a ruched beige minidress that sat off the shoulder and showed off her hourglass figure. read more on BRAD Pitt She paired the look with a beige quilted handbag and open-toe stilettos. The couple were seen exiting a Midtown building shortly after Brad was forced to deny speculation that he's using his relationship with Ines to generate publicity for F1. Ocean's Eleven star Brad, who recently finalised his acrimonious They Most read in Celebrity Brad and Bradley are longtime friends, with the American Hustle star After Bradley's 2019 split from supermodel Brad Pitt suffers huge blow in messy $20.5m legal fight with Hurricane Katrina victims after star sued over shoddy homes A source told 'Both Brads had the best night being away from the normal Hollywood crowd, but they still stopped to talk to a few industry friends in the audience. 'They were sipping sparkling water and chatting. 'They can't go out partying like they used to back in the day because they've quit boozing, so they chose a venue where they could stay out of trouble and relax. 'They won't be out chatting up women any time soon, but they are both single for the first time in over a decade. "They'll be good wingmen for each other when the time is right.' 7 The couples dined out at the exclusive COTE Korean Steakhouse Credit: BackGrid 7 Gigi kept things casual in a denim jacket and grey baggy trousers Credit: BackGrid 7 Oscar winner Brad turned heads in a shiny lavender silk shirt Credit: Splash 7 Ines stunned in a ruched beige minidress that sat off the shoulder and showed off her hourglass figure Credit: Getty 7 The couple were swarmed by fans outside the celeb hotspot Credit: Getty
