JK Rowling slams trans athletes for ‘stealing’ medals from women after UN report findings

“Over 890 medals, across 29 sports, stolen from women.”

The author, most famous for penning the Harry Potter series, has come under heavy criticism over the years for her comments on trans rights and athletes.

Rowling shared an article on X by The Daily Mail which brings to light a report from the United Nations titled: ‘Violence against women and girls in sports’.

In the report under section C. Opportunity for fair and safe competition, point 11 reads: “Policies implemented by international governing bodies, along with national legislation of some countries, allow males who identify as women to compete in female sports categories.

“In other cases, this practice is not explicitly prohibited and is thus tolerated in practice. The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities including medals when competing against males.

“According to information received, by 30 March 2024, over 600 female athletes in more than 400 competitions have lost more then 890 medals in 29 different sports.”

Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, presented the findings of her report to the UN General Assembly earlier this month.

The report didn’t reveal any details over what sporting events the medals were won, nor did it give a time frame but attributed the figures to WOLF, ICSF and Dianne Post on behalf of Lavendar Patch.

It went on to discuss the ‘specific attributes considered advantageous in certain sports, such as strength and testosterone levels’, concluding that this resulted in the ‘loss of fair opportunity’.

Sharing the tweet by The Daily Mail, which contained a link to the article, Rowling said: “Over 890 medals, across 29 sports, stolen from women by men.”

Her comment amassed over 2,000 comments, including one from Elon Musk who supported her comments.

It is part of a wider debate as the sporting world tries to delicately balance inclusivity and fairness across the board.

In March of this year, a BBC Sport study found that more than 100 elite British sportswomen would be uncomfortable with transgender women competing in female categories in their sport.

Transgender athletes who have won gold medals in sporting events include Canadian cyclist Veronica Ivy, who became the first transgender cycling champion when she won gold at the UCI Women's Masters Track Cycling World Championships. 

New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo 2020.

American swimmer Lia Thomas also made history when she became the first transgender athlete to win the highest US national college title when she swam for the University of Pennsylvania in 2022. 

In an interview published in American publication Si in 2022 Thomas said she wanted to show trans kids ‘they don’t have to choose between who they are and the sport they love.’

The UN report went on to address other obstacles affecting women in sport such as social stereotypes, pervasive sexism and limited access to training facilities as well as physical violence.