JK Rowling to fund gender-critical women's cases against employers and public spaces

JK ROWLING has opened a fund to bankroll cases for women “fighting to retain sex-based rights”.

The Harry Potter author, who donated to For Women Scotland’s gofundme to challenge the definition of gender under the Equality Act in the Supreme Court, has set up a fund to help gender critical women to pursue action against employers and public services. 

The J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund (JKRWF) says it will provide funding to give women “the means and confidence to bring to justice cases that make legal precedents, force policy change, and make positive contributions to women’s lives in the future”.

It sets out a checklist for those applying, such as fighting a tribunal because of “their expressed beliefs” or being “forced to comply with unreasonable inclusion policies” in single sex spaces.

The fund’s website sets out that it won’t hire a lawyer for those hoping to make a legal challenge, so those applying must “already have sought legal representation, and have a clear desired outcome to your case”.

On social media, Rowling said she would not be accepting public donations to the fund as a “private fund is the most efficient, streamlined way for me to do this”.

(Image: JKRWF) “Lots of people are offering to contribute, which I truly appreciate, but there are many other women’s rights organisations that could do with the money, so donate away, just not to me!” she added.

Rowling has a net worth of around £945 million and was ranked the eighth wealthiest person in Scotland earlier this month.

It is understood the fund has been operating since the end of 2024. 

Rowling celebrated the judgment in the FWS Supreme Court case from her private yacht, and was pictured smoking a cigar. She captioned the photograph: “I love it when a plan comes together”.

In April, the Supreme Court ruled that under the Equality Act 2010 a woman is defined by “biological sex” and does not include a transgender woman with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

This decision went against how the law had been interpreted across public and private bodies in the UK for the past 20 years. Trans women were then banned from playing women’s football and cricket. 

In the weeks following the judgment, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) released interim guidance that banned transgender people from using the bathroom of their acquired gender. This was described as “cruel” and “segregation”.

We told how former first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the Supreme Court ruling had been “massively misinterpreted”.

It followed similar comments made by Lady Hale, the first female president of the Supreme Court, now retired.

Rowling has been publicly critical of Sturgeon, once being pictured wearing a t-shirt that described the Glasgow MSP as a “destroyer of women’s rights”.