JK Rowling has branded a transgender football manager a “straight, white, middle-aged bloke” as she angrily denied bullying.
The Harry Potter author mocked Lucy Clark, who has been appointed manager of Sutton United’s women’s football team in south London.
LGBT charity Pride posted on social media a photograph of Clark, who was previously a referee, holding a pink whistle and a red card.
The post said: “Lucy Clark, the world’s first openly transgender referee, has made history by becoming the first trans manager in the top 5 divisions of English women’s football.
“The former referee has taken over at Sutton United. FABULOUS!”
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Rowling said on X, formerly Twitter: “When I was young all the football managers were straight, white, middle-aged blokes, so it’s fantastic to see how much things have changed.”
Responding to a report that she had “compared” Clark to a “straight, white, middle-aged bloke”, she doubled down by stating: “I didn’t compare him to one. He IS one.”
The author was criticised for mocking Clark, with some people on social media accusing her of being cruel, but she gave them short shrift.
She said: “Calling a man a man is not ‘bullying’ or ‘punching down.’ Crossdressing straight men are currently one of the most pandered-to demographics in existence, and women are under no obligation to applaud the people caricaturing us.”
Responding to another accusation of bullying, Rowling said: “You’re right. No demographic is more vulnerable and oppressed than large, tattooed crossdressers who get plum jobs in women’s sport. I don’t know how I could have been so cruel.”
In a post on X, Clark, 51, said: “Another day of hate-fuelled transphobia against me… but hey guess what I am living my best life. Wake up everyday with my beautiful family around me.
“Everyday I laugh and have things to look forward to. Who’s winning at life … the one who’s happy and smiling or those hating?”
Among those criticising Rowling’s response online was Caroline Litman said: “I’ve not met Lucy but my husband knows her wife.
“Lucy is a real person with a family, and a life to live. Bills to pay. What harm does her role as a football manager cause you? The team love her. Her wife and child love her. Your decision to pile on her is simply cruel.”
Only hours after the SNP’s controversial hate-crime laws were introduced last month, Rowling posted pictures of 10 high-profile trans people and ridiculed their claims to be women. She then challenged police to arrest her.
Police Scotland rejected the complaints against her under the new legislation, saying they did not meet the threshold for criminality.
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