JK Rowling backs researcher internet slanders as 'transphobic'

Harry Potter author JK Rowling is facing a wave of criticism online after supporting a British woman who was fired from her job for saying people cannot change their biological sex. "Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?" Ms Rawling said. The Twitter trend TERF, which means trans-exclusionary radical feminist, emerged after Ms Rawling tweeted in defense of Maya Forstater, who was a visiting fellow at the Centre for Global Development, a UK poverty think tank. Ms Forstater responded to an employment tribunal after it ruled against her. "My belief, as I set out in my witness statement, is that sex is a biological fact and is immutable. There are two sexes. Men are male. Women are female. It is impossible to change sex. These were until very recently understood as basic facts of life," Ms Forstater said. Image: Getty