Labour’s education spokesperson Bridget Phillipson has said she is “genuinely sorry to hear” of JK Rowling’s doubts about voting Labour.
Writing in the Times, the Harry Potter author and former party donor criticised Keir Starmer’s stance on women’s and trans rights and accused the party of “abandoning women”.
Responding to the comments, Ms Phillipson said she had “a real degree of respect” for the writer but argued that her party had a strong record on women’s rights.
She also said Labour would protect women’s services and make sure trans people “get the support they need”, adding: “It is not an either/or.”
Appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Phillipson was also asked if a Labour government would implement draft guidance banning schools in England from teaching pupils about gender identity.
Ms Phillipson didn’t directly say if Labour would scrap the ban on teaching the concept of gender identity.
She described some of the government’s draft guidance as having “good and straightforward principles” but added: “Other elements of it I think drifted far too much into partisan and unnecessary language that I think makes it harder for schools to navigate this.”
She said it was important to provide “clarity” for teachers on “how to manage what is a sensitive and difficult area for them”.
“But let’s make sure that children’s wellbeing is at the heart of this. Let’s stop this being a political football.
“There are trans people; they have a right for their existence to be recognised. Many people, many trans people are vulnerable and are deserving of support.”
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has previously said schools should “not be providing classroom materials that, for example, include the view that gender is a spectrum”.
“While protected characteristics such as gender reassignment should be taught about, that must be done on a factual basis at an appropriate age and must not be based on contested ideology.”
Labour has faced criticism from some of its own MPs and supporters over its position on transgender rights.
Ms Rowling, who donated £1m to Labour in 2008, wrote in The Times: “As long as Labour remains dismissive and often offensive towards women fighting to retain the rights their foremothers thought were won for all time, I’ll struggle to support them.
“For left-leaning women like us this isn’t, and never has been, about trans people enjoying the rights of every other citizen and being free to present and identify however they wish.
“This is about the right of women and girls to assert their boundaries.”
Under the Equality Act 2010, it is illegal to discriminate against anyone because of “protected characteristics” – a set of identifying traits that are protected by law and include age, disability, religion, race, sex and sexual orientation among others.
Some interpret sex in this context as referring strictly to biological sex, while others believe it also applies to people with a gender recognition certificate; a legal document that allows someone to change the legal sex on their birth certificate.
Earlier this year, the Conservatives pledged to rewrite the Equality Act to apply to biological sex, making it simpler for services such as rape crisis centres to stop biological males from taking part.
Responding to Ms Rowling’s comments, Ms Phillipson said: “I want to make sure that women get the support and the justice that they deserve and that we do make sure that we’ve got services that are available for women, around rape and sexual violence.
“There are important provisions already there within the Equality Act that allow for single sex provision and it’s important those are maintained.
“But let’s, alongside that, make sure that trans people too get the support that they need. I don’t believe it’s an either/or but I would say really, do judge us on what we’ve done in the past to support women.”
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