Author J.K. Rowling reaffirmed her stance on sex and gender issues Wednesday, writing in a new essay that she would not back down from her advocacy despite facing what she described as a relentless "avalanche of death, rape and torture threats."

The British author, best known for writing the "Harry Potter" series, published the piece six years after her June 2020 essay sparked widespread debate over transgender rights and women's single-sex spaces.

Rowling wrote that her views "haven’t changed" since 2020, but that "the landscape certainly has, and my own involvement in the issue has become practical as well as theoretical, so I thought it was time for an update."

JK ROWLING CONFRONTS THE BBC FOR PUSHING 'PROPAGANDA' OVER ITS TRANSGENDER SPORTS HEADLINE

Her original essay drew criticism from LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and transgender rights activists, along with calls to boycott her work.

In the new essay, Rowling defended her opposition to policies allowing transgender women into certain female-only spaces, arguing that they undermine protections for women. She also characterized modern transgender activism as "elitist to its core."

"It’s true, of course, that trans activism doesn’t impact all women negatively. In fact, the more privileged you are, the less it tends to affect you, and the more it might benefit you. Aside from an avalanche of death, rape and torture threats, it hasn’t noticeably affected my life," Rowling wrote.

Rowling has rejected accusations that her views are "anti-trans," maintaining that her advocacy centers on women's safety and privacy.

"Should trans people be discriminated against when it comes to housing or employment? Of course not," Rowling wrote. "Should trans people be stripped of their human rights, or denied personal safety? Again: of course not."

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Earlier this month, transgender rights activists protested a gala performance of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" in London. A demonstrator wore a T-shirt reading, "Rowling money kills," and security personnel eventually removed the protesters from the red carpet.

In response to Rowling’s earlier 2020 comments on sex and gender, LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD criticized the author, writing on social media that "JK Rowling continues to align herself with an ideology which willfully distorts facts about gender identity and people who are trans. In 2020, there is no excuse for targeting trans people."

Actor Daniel Radcliffe, who starred as Harry Potter in the film adaptations, also publicly criticized Rowling's comments in 2020, issuing a statement through The Trevor Project.

"Transgender women are women," Radcliffe wrote. "Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I."

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May Mailman, director of the Independent Women's Law Center, told Fox News Digital that she agrees with Rowling's criticism of wealthy supporters of transgender activism, arguing that working-class women are more likely to be affected by policies governing single-sex spaces.

"For people in the United States who have real problems to deal with, they need to figure out how they're [going to] put food on the table," Mailman said. "They're not worried about pronouns. They're worried about improving their families and improving themselves. And so, there is this elitism that's like when you run out of problems, you start inventing them."

Rowling has also supported the campaign group For Women Scotland, which challenged the interpretation of "woman" under the U.K.'s Equality Act 2010. On April 16, 2025, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that the terms "woman" and "sex" refer to biological sex for the purposes of the law. The court also affirmed that transgender people remain protected against discrimination under the law's gender reassignment provisions.

Mailman welcomed the British court decision but warned that she believes free speech in the country is increasingly under threat.

"I think the status of free speech in Great Britain is much more under attack than it is in the U.S.," Mailman said, adding, "I think we should treat it as a warning sign, because I think people look to Britain as where the United States could and often does head."

JK ROWLING CALLS OUT THE 'GROTESQUE' BEHAVIOR TOWARDS SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM FANS IN SCATHING POST

Jeremiah Igunnubole, U.K. legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International, a Christian legal advocacy group, also welcomed Rowling’s essay in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"We welcome JK Rowling doubling down on her determination to challenge gender ideology and defend the importance of biological reality. Truth matters, and we should not be afraid to uphold it simply because doing so is controversial," Igunnubole said.

He added that Alliance Defending Freedom International would "continue to defend these principles and the protections that flow from them robustly, including through litigation in the UK where necessary."

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A representative for Rowling declined to provide additional comment to Fox News Digital.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district, just said one of the most asinine things you'll ever hear from a politician. She, as the vast majority of Democrats have, came out in support of "trans rights" and men in women's sports. That shouldn't shock anyone, but her reasoning behind that support is so absurdly ridiculous and nonsensical, it'll inevitably cause your hand to hit your face.

While speaking at More Perfect University, a progressive campus program launched in April 2026 by the advocacy media nonprofit More Perfect Union to combat Turning Point USA, AOC, sitting next to Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson, received a question from a male student who identifies as a female.

WHERE TOP DEMOCRAT SENATE CANDIDATES AND THEIR GOP OPPONENTS STAND ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN'S SPORTS

"I am a transgender student at the University of Southern Maine," the student started. The student articulated feeling "abandoned" by the Democrat party and claimed that liberals seem to believe that trans-identifying people our a "losing issue" and "it's not worth defending us." The student then asked for AOC's thoughts.

"They're wrong," AOC said.

After a 30-second word salad, AOC stated, "What's so important for everyone to understand is that the moment you try to compromise the rights of a trans person in America, you compromise the rights of everyone citizen in America."

Goodness gracious. Let's breakdown how insane that statement is:

AOC is essentially saying if you are against men's "rights" to compete in women's sports and invade women's spaces, you're against the rights of every American citizen. If you're against men stealing women's trophies and opportunities, if you're against men injuring women on the court, field, and any field of play, if you're against full-intact males changing in the same locker room as women...you're against the rights of all Americans. Insanity.

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I could go further on what she may consider "trans rights" and how that affects boys and girls medically with gender reassignment surgery and other atrocities, but I'll stick mostly to the sports lane in this piece.

By the way, that statement from AOC received a massive, auditorium-wide applause.

After AOC went on a lengthy diatribe about The Right's fixation on the trans issue and how many conservatives just don't understand the gender conversation happening in our country, she claimed:

"Our basic rights shouldn't have to matter. [Rights] don't matter who you are, what you do. You have those rights guaranteed by being an American citizen. Point blank. Period."

Again, thunderous applause for another nonsensical, false statement.

DEMOCRATS ARE CHANGING THEIR TRANSGENDER MESSAGE. REPUBLICANS SAY THEY’RE JUST FLIP-FLOPPING

No, Ms. Representative. It is not a "right" for males to compete in women's sports and use women's restrooms/locker rooms because they simply identify as the opposite sex.

In America, we have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The United States of America was founded on the principle that individual rights do not come from government. Those rights come from God. Government exists to protect those rights.

This woman couldn't point to one place in the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, or the Declaration of Independence that proves her claim that males have the right to compete in women's sports or use women's restrooms. Our Founding Fathers would've laughed AOC out of the room if she argued for this in their presence.

"On a deeper level, I want us all to understand what they (Republicans) are doing," AOC continued. "The billions of dollars and the enormous amount of energy that The Right is putting and focusing on trans Americans, when you actually zoom out, trans Americans are about 1% of the population, perhaps less than 1%."

AOC was then corrected by the trans-identifying student, who raised three fingers to represent that they believe trans-identifying Americans represent 3% of the population.

WASHINGTON STATE'S HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS LEAGUE PUTS ONUS FOR TRANS ATHLETE CONTROVERSY ON STATE LAWS

AOC, citing that surveys of Republicans, after seeing political ads focused on transgenderism, start to believe trans-identifying people make up 40% of the population, which is another asinine claim, then said this:

"When they (The Right) want to focus on trans girls in sports, it's not just about trans girls in sports. It's about girls, all girls."

AOC then claimed The Right's agenda is "attacking Title IX."

"Title IX is the federal protection for all gender equality and all women to be protected," AOC claimed.

No, it's not. Why? You're using deceptive language in order to manipulate the conversation and the American people, AOC.

Title IX should strictly protect biological sex (male & female) as originally understood in 1972. AOC uses the term "gender" because that has become an all-encompassing term for anyone who identifies as a woman. What the Left has tried to do, especially under former President Biden, was to change the language of Title IX to include gender identity and sexual orientation, which would have opened the floodgates for men in women's sports.

This is pure gaslighting. Politicians like AOC are the ones actually "attacking Title IX". Republicans are the ones protecting it.

After laughably trying to equate the Cornell 7 case, where a group of male students have been accused of drugging and raping a female student, to "attacks" on trans women (men) through Title IX by Trump and the Republicans, AOC made another definitive statement about women's sports.

"Understand, when they attack trans girls in sports, they're also attacking all women's ability to stand up against their abusers, their rapists, and their assaulters on campuses across America."

Just think about how anti-woman this whole stance is.

Rape, abuse, and assault of women are terrible things. They should be dealt with harshly and condemned. Comparing the administration's fight to protect women and women's spaces from males to rape, is utterly disgusting and actually devalues those atrocities and crimes against actual women.

AOC is simply using false equivalencies to paint Trump, Republicans, conservatives, and even many of the registered Democrats and independents who rallied for Sophie Cunningham across the country this WNBA season, as evil.

Banning males from women's sports is not the same, or even in the same universe, as rape.

Here's where AOC made her most absurd, nonsensical, brain-dead claim of the night in regards to men in women's sports.

"I support the rights of trans women because I'm a girls girl."

Read that again.

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AOC just literally said she supports the rights of males identifying as females to compete in women's sports because I'm a female who genuinely supports, uplifts, and advocates for other women.

I just lost brain cells typing that out.

As one X user said, "This is like saying, 'I agree that 2+2=5 because I'm a mathy mathematician'."

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To think that this woman could be the Democrat nominee for president in 2028 shows just how far our education system, political system, and country has fallen.

AOC ended her lengthy response by stating, "What we're not going to do is shred our Constitution, kill Title IX, and defund all of our healthcare, just to attack 3% of the U.S. population."

I'd invite AOC to try to say this nonsense to the girls' cross-country team and their parents of Camas High School, and other girls who have had to compete against a boy this season. I would love to see her try to tell the brave girls who walked off the course in protest that their act was an "attack" on the transgender community that is on par with the rape and assault of women.

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Washington’s upcoming vote on Initiative 638, is a November ballot measure that seeks to restrict K-12 public school athletic categories strictly by biological sex at birth. Let's pray these girls' sports and spaces are protected.

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Shame on you, AOC.

A southern Michigan school district has voted to restrict participation in girls' sports to biological females, approving a new policy in a 4-2 school board vote amid the ongoing national debate over transgender athletes competing in women's and girls' athletics.

"The Board of Education approved a new policy with a vote of 4 yes and 2 no with one board member absent," Andrew Shaw, superintendent of Monroe Public Schools, told Fox News Digital in an email Wednesday.

"As the superintendent it is my role to implement the policies established by the Board of Education," he added. "The policy that was approved is for Monroe Public Schools only and does not impact any visiting school."

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The policy, titled "Girl's Athletic Participation and Facilities Use," addresses participation in girls' athletics and access to facilities. A copy of the proposed policy obtained by Fox News Digital states that participation in girls' athletics at Monroe Public Schools would be restricted to biological females, with eligibility tied to documentation on a student's birth certificate.

The policy reads, "Participation in girl's athletics at Monroe Public Schools shall be restricted to biological females as documented on the birth certificate at the time of birth. Access to and use of girl's athletic facilities (locker rooms) shall follow the same restriction."

The decision comes as school districts across the country continue to grapple with questions surrounding transgender student participation in girls' sports and access to sex-separated facilities.

The new policy announcement also comes after Briley Lechner, a varsity volleyball player at Monroe High School in Monroe, Michigan, and her father, Sean, filed a federal lawsuit on Oct. 9, announced by the Thomas More Law Center, raising Title IX and constitutional claims against Monroe Public Schools, the Michigan High School Athletic Association and school officials over the alleged incident.

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Briley Lechner said she filed a lawsuit after she unknowingly shared a locker room with a transgender athlete.

"What's very scary is that the day that this happened, I had no clue that there was a boy on the other team," Lechner told Fox News Digital in an interview on Oct. 15.

The lawsuit from the Thomas More Law Center "alleges that school officials knowingly concealed from the Monroe High School girls' volleyball team and their parents that the September 9, 2025, match with Ann Arbor's Skyline High School would involve a biological male (transgender female)," according to the legal group.

In a statement, Briley Lechner told Fox News Digital, "Our family loves and respect everyone, regardless of our differences. This has always been about my privacy, my safety, and fair play. Nothing more, nothing less."

She added, "Every female athlete deserves to have her rights respected and protected. Boys do NOT belong in girls’ locker rooms or girls’ sports. Every girl deserves to feel safe, respected, and protected, both in the locker room and on the court. We should NEVER have to fight for that."

WOMEN WHO FACED BIOLOGICAL MALES IN GIRLS SPORTS AND LOCKER ROOMS SPEAK OUT AHEAD OF WASHINGTON STATE VOTE

Sean Lechner, her father, told Fox News Digital, "The new policy may be watered down, but it's an incremental victory for my daughter and every female athlete. It's shameful it took nearly a year to get here but we still have work to do. Who's to say they can't change it again? Regardless of how some try to twist the narrative, this has ALWAYS been about my daughter's privacy, safety, and fair play. Nothing more, nothing less!"

He continued, "Since our lawsuit was announced, my daughter and I have received even more harassing and threatening messages. But at the heart of everything I'm doing is something simple — being a father, being a parent, and loving my daughter enough to stand beside her when she needs me most." 

He added, "To all parents....put aside your differences, bring faith, common sense, and respect back into our homes. Our children are God's most precious gifts. Love them. Cherish them. Protect them. One day, your daughter may look you in the eyes and ask, 'Why didn't you stand up for me when I needed you?' I never want my daughter to ask me that question. I want her to know her father stood beside her and never backed down. No amount of hate or threats will silence us. I will never stop standing up for my daughter."

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Thomas More Law Center for comment.

CAMAS, Wash. — The sign seemed innocuous enough. So did the man holding it. But a passing jogger apparently saw things differently.

Outside a district cross country meet in which a biological male was competing against girls, Steve Lynch held a sign that read: "Coached X-C & Track for 24 years. If you have questions about the differences between Girls & Boys...answers given here FREE of charge!"

But as Lynch began explaining those differences, the jogger shouted: "Jesus loves a firing squad! Go kill Muslims! Go kill trans people! That's your rhetoric, right? F--- you!"

DAD BANNED FROM SCHOOL GROUNDS AFTER PROTESTING TRANS RUNNER COMPETING AGAINST HIS DAUGHTER

Lynch didn't even flinch. In fact, he smiled.

"Oftentimes I have to deal with that," he said.

Lynch represents courage on this issue, which is something many adults lack. Over the past few weeks, it's been mostly students, not grown-ups, who have led the opposition to a Camas High cross country runner competing against girls after starting the season on the boys team.

But a rally outside Wednesday's meet — where the boy finished second among a field of 25 to help lead Camas to the girls district championship — showed that the adults are catching up in the bravery department.

PARENTS SPEAK OUT ON THE INGRAHAM ANGLE AFTER GIRLS FORFEIT RACE OVER BIOLOGICAL MALE RUNNER

There looked to be more than 100 grown-ups, maybe 200, in attendance — mostly dressed in garb advocating for the separation of males and females in sports. At the heart of the rally was Initiative 638 — a Nov. 3 ballot measure in Washington state that would enforce such separation in K-12 athletics.

People such as Sarah Burns, the mother of a Camas runner who walked off the start line in protest last week, never imagined herself playing the role of activist when the cross country season began. But now she finds herself at the center of one of the most contentious debates in Washington state.

"I was just a mom going to watch her daughter, and then we found out what was happening, and I couldn't not say something," said Burns, wearing an XX-XY Athletics shirt. "These are teenage girls that should be able to be teenage girls and run and compete in their sport and not have their achievements taken from them."

Burns was not the only Camas parent willing to speak out on Wednesday. Also in attendance was Sarah Babb, whose daughter Madeline walked off the start line last week as well. Like Burns' daughter, Holly, Madeline had no idea her actions would prompt such widespread media attention. But as reporters from across the nation showed up to cover Wednesday's rally and meet, Sarah was no longer feeling quite so isolated.

"As a mom who comes to these races all season long, it feels very alone as I stand there and go, 'This is awful,'" Babb said. "So it was great to see such support last week, and this is wild this week. It's hard to be the quiet majority, to feel like we're being bullied into silence. I think a lot of people feel that way. I know it's scary. It's scary."

It certainly can be. Over the past couple weeks that I've been covering this story, most parents have been reluctant to speak — even anonymously. Many have expressed fear of losing their jobs, and one even said, "I don't want my house burned down."

It's easy to catastrophize, especially when you see how vicious opponents of the Protect Women's Sports crowd can be. There was the aforementioned jogger. There was the Golden State Valkyries fan who told an XX-XY shirt-wearer to "f---ing kill yourself" at a WNBA Finals game last week. There was the Seattle Storm co-owner telling a girl with the same shirt that she's "f---ing insane" in July, bringing that girl to tears.

WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL GIRL WALKS OFF STARTING LINE ALONE IN PROTEST OF TRANS RUNNER, ENDING HER SEASON

Surely one can see why parents would want to sit this issue out, right? Women's sports advocate Amy Sousa isn't so sure.

"I don't have a lot of patience for adults who are willing to let the girls take the hits," Sousa said. "If these girls are willing to stand up to their peers, I think adults can stand up to theirs. And if they can't do it in public, at least they can do it at the ballot."

There were some people at Wednesday's rally very much against I-638. One was a woman named Stephanie, who didn't want her last name used but was cordial with me and my photographer.

She said the measure would require invasive genital exams to prove one's sex, which is not true. When I mentioned that there were other options such as cheek swabs, she argued that that would be too expensive and that there weren't enough trans athletes for such testing to be worthwhile. When I mentioned all the female athletes speaking out against having to compete against biological males as a matter of fairness, she offered the following:

"Fairness is reasonable, and I do think there should be rules. Even in the Olympics, each sport can set up certain rules. I don't want to wrestle with somebody who's got 40 pounds on me, whether they're male or female," Stephanie said. "But that's about size, not just about what gender you're born."

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Come on, though. It's more than about size, isn't it? How many women under 6'4" have you seen dunk a basketball? Yet there are countless men under that height who can. Biology matters in every sport.

In fact, it was a difference in biology that ultimately led Camas High senior Kate Westfall — the fastest girl on the cross country roster — to quit the team earlier in the month. Westfall won districts last year. She had bigger aspirations in her final high school season. But she walked away from it all because she felt racing against a boy simply wasn't fair.

So Wednesday, her parents — Joe and Jennie — showed up to districts in protect-women's-sports attire to honor their daughter's courage.

"She made the brave decision to forgo the rest of her senior season and give up opportunities in order to bring awareness to the impact the current state policy is having on females who are being forced to compete in this unfair environment," Jennie said. "As her parents, we are proud of her courage and are honored to stand with her."

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Jennie and Joe admit to a fear of backlash. But that's the thing about courage — without fear, it doesn't exist.