JK Rowling divides gender critics - but is it permanent?

The Herald Scotland

8 hours ago

Ms Rowling has been a vocal critic of the constitutional divide for more than a decade, voting No in the 2014 referendum and donation £1 million to the Better Together campaign.
Equally though, she has always maintained friendships with people on both sides of the debate.
Ms Rowling and the transgender exclusionary movement share a common dislike for the former first minister, given that she spearheaded the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill that set fire to the debate.
It is surprising, then, that Ms Rowling's review of Ms Sturgeon's memoir caused such a schism in the movement.
Ms Rowling took particular issue with the former first minister's argument that the independence debate was not "unpleasant and divisive".
She wrote in her review that No voters were "being threatened with violence and to f*** off out of Scotland, quizzed on the amount of Scottish blood that ran in their veins, accused of treachery and treason".
It immediately caused a divide.
Pro-independence blogger Wings Over Scotland stated it had "ripped open an old wound between a bunch of gender-critical people who were getting along just fine".
And getting along just fine they were. Arguably, the gender critical movement was at an all-time harmonious high.
When the Supreme Court ruling linked the terms "woman" and "man" to biological sex in the Equality Act 2010, the triumph from campaigners was inescapable.
And the employment tribunal between Sandie Peggie and NHS Fife reinvigorated the gender critical community with 10 days of non-stop news of their cause.
After Ms Rowling's review, social media was awash with conflicting views: those urging pro-independence voters not to conflate the constitutional issue with the campaign for women's rights.
Read more:
But others felt that it was only right to call out the Harry Potter author. High profile figures joined in to contradict her version of events.
Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry said she felt Ms Rowling's take may have exaggerated the bad behaviour during the referendum.
The author's review omits "any reference to bad behaviour by Better Together supporters which also occurred," according to the former SNP MP.
The KC said she experienced a "determined attempt" to "traduce" her professional reputation after she set up Lawyers for Yes.
The author referenced the concerns, writing on X: "Did pro-union people behave badly, as well as nationalists? Yes, without a doubt. In any binary contest you will look around and find a lot of people standing in your camp you don't have a single thing in common with except on a single yes/no question.
"There's a reason, though, that far more nationalists than unionists look back fondly on the run up to the referendum time.
"Pro-independence politicians were happy to impugn remainers' motives in very ugly ways, and plenty elected MPs and MSPs contributed enthusiastically to online toxicity."
Both Scottish independence and the gender debate have become two of the most divisive debates in the country's history.
Ms Rowling's self-published review has reignited questions about how movements with shared values can fracture when broader identities and loyalties clash.
Much like the debate around self-ID, the constitutional question continues to stir deep emotion and division.
The Scottish independence movement has never overcome that division. The challenge now for the gender critical side, is whether it can overcome the deep differences for the benefit of its greater cause - and only time will tell.