“I’ve already turned down aristocratic status twice, once in the Labour Party and once in the Conservative Party,” Rowling said on X on Tuesday.
Unlike the elected House of Representatives, the British Senate consists of clergy and nobles. Tenured nobles, distinguished from hereditary nobles, are usually appointed by the king at the request of the prime minister.
Rowling made the comments in the wake of former industry minister Kemi Baidnock, a finalist in the Conservative Party leadership race, saying in a recent interview that she wanted to give Rowling aristocratic status, citing her stance on gender.
“If it’s offered a third time, I still won’t accept it,” Rowling said. “It’s not her, it’s me.” Regardless of former Secretary Vaidnock, she said she would refuse the offer regardless of who made it.
Former Secretary Badnock said in an interview that both he and Rowling have a belief in protecting women based on the biological gender, not the gender they identify.
Rowling has been controversial in many public statements about her opposition to transgender people who perceive her as a woman.
Former Minister Baidnock also praised Hillary Cath, who was appointed as a lifetime aristocrat this summer and became a senator, for being a strong voice in Congress for women. Cath is a pediatrician who led the National Health Service’s (NHS) investigation into gender identity-related medical services in children and adolescents.
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
