JK Rowling celebrates Trump’s trans sports ban with swipe at LGBTQ+ activists and allies

JK Rowling has celebrated US president Donald Trump enacting a ban on trans women and girls taking part in female sports.

The Harry Potter author – well-known for her views on trans rights – took to X/Twitter, to celebrate the latest executive order coming out of the White House that targets the rights of the transgender community.

The order, signed by Trump on Wednesday (5 February), states: “In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”

It went on to say it will be the “policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity and truth”.

Sharing a photograph of the president surrounded by young women and girls after he had signed the order, Rowling wrote: “Congratulations to every single person on the left who’s been campaigning to destroy women’s and girls’ rights. Without you, there’d be no images like this.”

Congratulations to every single person on the left who’s been campaigning to destroy women’s and girls’ rights. Without you, there’d be no images like this. pic.twitter.com/mzR7l5k1OW

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 6, 2025

During last year’s Olympics, Rowling took aim at Algerian boxer Imane Khelif who came under scrutiny, alongside Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, because they were previously disqualified from the World Championships after failing to meet eligibility criteria.

Despite complying with the eligibility regulations for the Paris Games, and the International Olympic Committees saying Khelif’s inclusion was “not a transgender issue” – the boxer was born female – Rowling described her as a “male”.

The author shared a picture of Khelif after she beat Italy’s Angela Carini, writing: “Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male, who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment, enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”

Khelif went on to win the gold medal in the women’s 66kg category. Rowling was subsequently named in a legal complaint by the boxer, which cites “acts of aggravated cyber harassment”.