A Trans Politician Just Won JK Rowling’s Home District. She Backed The Losing Anti-Trans Candidate
Scotland elected its first two transgender Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) on Friday, 8 May 2026. Dr Q Manivannan and Iris Duane won seats for the Scottish Green Party. Manivannan represents Edinburgh and Lothians East, which is JK Rowling’s home region. The Harry Potter author, who has spent the past six years publicly campaigning against trans rights, is now represented in parliament by a trans politician.
A historic Friday in Edinburgh
Manivannan, who uses they/them pronouns, also becomes Scotland’s first nonbinary MSP. Duane, who uses she/her pronouns, took her seat for Glasgow. The pair celebrated with supporters in Edinburgh, while the symbolism of the result lit up social media.
“My name is Dr Q Manivannan, I am a transgender Tamil immigrant, my pronouns are they/them,” Manivannan told the crowd, per The Independent. “I am to some in this country everything that the hateful despise and I am standing here as your MSP now with care.”
“This is what diversity looks like in power,” they added.
Duane kept her message brief on Instagram Stories: “Hope. All we ask for is hope.”
Rowling backed the losing anti-trans candidate instead
Rowling, 60, was not in a celebrating mood. On Saturday, 9 May, she reposted Scottish writer Susan Dalgety’s tribute to Dr Pam Gosal, a former MSP who lost her re-election bid. Gosal, like Rowling, publicly supported the United Kingdom Supreme Court ruling that trans women are not legally women.
Dalgety paired her post with Manivannan’s “diversity in power” quote and a photograph of Gosal, calling her a “staunch defender of women’s rights.” Rowling’s contribution was two words: “Hear, hear.”
Then she turned on Harriet Harman
The same day, Rowling criticised UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for appointing Labour veteran Harriet Harman as his new Adviser on Women and Girls. Harman has publicly supported the Gender Recognition Act, telling Sky News in 2022 that “women are also women who are trans women.”
“Bravo, @Keir_Starmer, for getting in an Adviser on Women and Girls who thinks the definition of women and girls includes men and boys,” Rowling posted on X.
The bigger picture
Rowling has been a flashpoint in LGBTQIA+ rights debates since 2020, when comments she made online were widely criticised as transphobic. Pedro Pascal is among the public figures who have called her out, and Harry Potter cast members have repeatedly distanced themselves from her views.
What changed this weekend is the geography. Rowling can write whatever she likes about trans women. Her MSP is one.
