JK Rowling hails BBC newsreader Martine Croxall after she overrules autocue's 'pregnant people' line to say 'women'

Daily Mail​

3 hours ago

JK Rowling has hailed BBC newsreader Martine Croxall after she overruled an autocue line which said 'pregnant people' to say 'women' instead.
The Harry Potter author, 59, who has been vocal on the subject of trans people and what she calls 'sex-based rights' for several years, has praised the journalist, 56, for it on social media.
The clip from a recent BBC News episode saw Ms Croxall introduce new research on the number of heat-related deaths expected amid Britain's current heatwave.
But as the autocue prompted her to warn 'pregnant people' to take care in the heat, she first read the term out before overriding it, with a smirk and eyebrow raise.
She said: 'Malcolm Mistry, who was involved in the research, said the aged, pregnant people - women! - and those with pre-existing health conditions need to take precautions.'
Ms Rowling reposted the clip on X, captioning it: 'I have a new favourite BBC presenter.'
Ms Croxall herself soon responded to a commenter who had praised her move as 'brilliant', adding: 'I hope you don't get hauled before the BBC News beak.'
The broadcaster simply replied: 'Braced x.'
The original clip was first reposted to X by campaign group SEEN In Journalism, which says it 'seeks to restore accuracy and impartiality to media coverage of sex and gender'.
They captioned their post, 'Good to see accuracy on BBC News', followed by an emoji of a pregnant woman.
Therapist and gender-critical campaigner James Esses has also weighed in online to praise Ms Croxall: 'The BBC is so utterly enthralled to gender ideology that it took a brave newsreader to correct the teleprompter instruction to say "pregnant people" by instead saying "women" afterwards.
'Let's hope she isn't cancelled for her rebellion!'
Former BBC journalist Sean McGinty - whose LinkedIn says he co-founded the broadcaster's new music show BBC Introducing, in a more than 20-year career with the broadcaster before leaving in 2024 - backed the newsreader too.
He said: 'She's fab, also brave and strong enough to do so from within.'
Ms Croxall is one of the main presenters of BBC News, having started work for the broadcaster more than 30 years ago, in 1991, and for its news programme in 2001.
Other commenters agreed with Ms Rowling's admiration for Ms Croxall too, with one saying: 'What is her name? I only want her as a BBC presenter.'
Ms Croxall herself soon responded to a commenter who had praised her move as 'brilliant', adding: 'I hope you don't get hauled before the BBC News beak.' The broadcaster simply replied: 'Braced x'
Therapist and gender-critical campaigner James Esses has also weighed in online to praise Ms Croxall
Former BBC journalist Sean McGinty - whose LinkedIn says he co-founded the broadcaster's new music show BBC Introducing, in a more than 20-year career with the broadcaster before leaving in 2024 - backed the newsreader too
Other commenters agreed with Ms Rowling's admiration for Ms Croxall too
Another said of the veteran broadcaster: 'The worst thing is that your post probably just resulted in her never being on the BBC again once her bosses see it.'
Ms Croxall made headlines in April for challenging a pro-transgender activist who said April's Supreme Court ruling on the definition of sex within the 2010 Equality Act might need some 'clarification'.
In a live interview with the presenter just after the ruling, campaigner and ex-Labour MSP candidate Heather Herbert - who has now joined the Greens - said: 'I feel like I'm under attack.'
She clashed with Ms Croxall throughout the segment, as the host questioned how it was an 'attack', adding she felt it was just a 'clarification of what the word "woman" means'.
Ms Croxall said the case made clear 'sex is binary and immutable' when the activist said local authorities which have not protected single-sex spaces on the basis of biological sex may need to reconsider in light of the ruling.
When Ms Herbert asked for 'clarification', the presenter replied: 'The ruling is that "woman" means biological sex.'
It comes after Ms Rowling's views on sex and gender have received renewed attention in recent months, following the Supreme Court ruling in April.
Judges ruled the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'.
This means transgender women with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) can be excluded from single-sex spaces if deemed 'proportionate'.
It marked the culmination of a long-running legal battle between the Scottish government and women's group For Women Scotland.
It was over the definition of a 'woman' in Scottish legislation mandating 50 percent female representation on public boards.
The case centred on whether somebody with a GRC recognising their gender as female should be treated as a woman under the 2010 Equality Act.
The outcome will have implications in England, Scotland and Wales.
Ms Rowling reacted to the ruling 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.'
And after sharing another post on X, suggesting she and her husband were clinking glasses of champagne in celebration, she followed up it with a selfie from on board her $150 million superyacht puffing a cigar in celebration.
The writer, who reportedly helped fund the women's group which brought the case, captioned the post: 'I love it when a plan comes together. #SupremeCourt #WomensRights.'
Meanwhile, opponents have said they fear the ruling could put trans and non-binary people at renewed risk of attacks and discrimination.
Judge Lord Hodge recognised 'the strength of feeling on both sides' and cautioned against seeing the judgement as 'a triumph for one side over another'.
He stressed the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.
The judge said: 'The Equality Act gives transgender people protection not only against discrimination through the protected characteristics of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, and harassment, in substance in their acquired gender.'
He added: 'On the one hand women, who make up one half of the population, have campaigned for over 150 years to have equality with men and to combat discrimination based on their sex. That work still continues.
'On the other hand, a vulnerable and often harassed minority, the trans community, struggle against discrimination and prejudice as they seek to live their lives with dignity.'
Human rights organisation Amnesty International has since also emphasised: 'The court has been clear that trans people are protected under the Equality Act against discrimination and harassment.
'The ruling does not change the protection trans people are afforded under the protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment', as well as other provisions under the Equality Act...
'The Supreme Court itself made clear that the vilification of a marginalised minority group is absolutely wrong.'
'All public authorities in the UK need to unequivocally enforce protections for trans people against discrimination and harassment.'