Nicola Coughlan, one of the many stars of Barbie and Lady Whistledown in Netflix’s Bridgerton, responded to a U.K. Supreme Court ruling on trans rights with an attack on Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
On Wednesday, the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of woman is based on biological sex—a decision that was a blow to transgender rights campaigners and but hailed by “gender-critical” feminists, the most famous of whom is Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Rowling celebrated the decision by posting a photo of her drinking and smoking a cigar aboard her $150 million superyacht in the Bahamas with the caption, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Coughlan, who has previously raised money for Palestine aid charities, responded to the ruling by launching a fundraiser via Instagram for a U.K.-based, trans rights charity called Not A Phase. In an Instagram video, Coughlan said she was “completely horrified” by the Supreme Court’s decision and that seeing “an already marginalized community be further attacked and attacked in law” was really “stomach-churning and disgusting,” as was seeing people celebrate the news.
The fundraiser has gone on to raise more than $140,000, with celebrities like singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams and Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey also donating.
In addition, Coughlan reposted an article from The Cut about the decision, titled “This Is a New Low for J.K. Rowling,” to her Instagram story, adding her own commentary, “Keep your new Harry Potter lads. Wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole.”
Rowling has come under fire from transgender rights campaigners for her ongoing and vocal opposition to their cause. They claim her position has tainted their previous enjoyment of Harry Potter, which is currently being adapted for TV by HBO. But she has said she opposes men in women-only spaces as a previous victim of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Rowling reportedly donated more than $90,000 to the group For Women Scotland, one of the parties which pursued the Supreme Court case which ended in the U.K.’s most senior justices ruling that biological sex is the defining factor in gender discrimination laws. They also warned their ruling could not be used to discriminate against transgender people.
Trans advocates have been critical of those who have signed on to star in the show, including John Lithgow as Dumbledore and Nick Frost as Hagrid, because of the money the show will generate for Rowling, who they believe will then use that money to bankroll future challenges to trans rights and causes.
Lithgow, for his part,suggested criticism stems being Anerican BBC’s The One Show, “I know there were plenty of people appalled that an American should be hired to play the ultimate English wizard. But, I will do my best.”
