JK Rowling hits back at Australian chief justice over new pronoun protocol

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has hit back at an Australian chief justice after he said that she “misunderstood” a new rule.

Children’s author JK Rowling has again clashed with an Australian chief justice over a new set of rules outlining respectful use of gender pronouns in court.

The outspoken author took to X to criticise the new ruling from South Australian Chief Justice Chris Kourakis that states “the use of preferred gender pronoun is a matter of respect and is an important component of ensuring public confidence in the proper administration of justice”.

She characterised the ruling as a “clear clash of rights”, saying a woman has a right to “speak truthfully about the male violence/sexual violence to which she was subjected”.

JK Rowling started to publicly criticise elements of transgender activism in 2020. Picture: Justin Tallis / AFP)

The ruling, which will govern the operations of courts in the state, says legal practitioners may “consider the gender pronouns of a person and their preferred title … this includes, but is not limited to, counsel, parties, witnesses, interpreters, solicitors and entities”.

Justice Kourakis said Rowling had “misunderstood” the protocol, which only requires lawyers to inform the court of correct pronunciation of names and preferred pronouns so proceedings are “conducted respectfully”.

He said any judge would ultimately “retain control over all forms of address used in court”.

“A victim of a crime would never be asked to address an accused person in a way which caused the victim distress,” he said in a statement.

“I would prefer that social media commentators took the time to properly inform themselves before pressing the send button, but my only concern is to assure the South Australian public that Ms Rowling’s anxiety is completely unfounded,” he continued.

While saying she “welcomed” the assurance from Justice Kourakis, Rowling hit back, saying that there was “no such exemption” mentioned in the ruling.

Justice Kourakis said Rowling had ‘misunderstood’ the protocol. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

“Meanwhile the Practice Note says that court officials should respectfully use female pronouns for the attacker if he says he identifies as a woman,” she said on X.

“The likely effect on a traumatised woman of hearing her attacker addressed and described as a female by the court is neither mentioned nor addressed in the Practice Note. Respect, it seems, goes only one way.”

While citing only one example where a woman had been “chided” for not using preferred pronouns, Rowling said millions of women were “losing confidence in judicial systems” as more courts adopted respectful language guidelines.

“In the very place where they go to seek justice, a woman may now be obliged to listen to court officials asserting they were raped or beaten by a fellow woman,” she said.

Post her Harry Potter success, Rowling has become more outspoken on what she describes as feminism, largely focusing on transgender issues.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has distanced himself from the author over her views and voiced his support for the trans community. Picture: AFP Photo / Charly Triballeau

Her stance has earnt her large amounts of criticism, including from Harry Potter actors who have distanced themselves from the author.

Stars of the series Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have all issued statements supporting trans and other queer people.

“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe wrote in an open letter in 2020.

“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.

“To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments (from Rowling) have caused you.

“I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you.”