JK Rowling is playing with fire

The transgender debate has a habit of bringing out the worst in people. It’s no wonder, really. It’s an issue rooted in identity – and therefore close to people’s hearts – and spiced up with the fear that fundamental concepts like the meaning of the words ‘man’ and ‘woman’ might be redefined by others, and to their advantage. It’s then hosted on social media – an environment where grown adults seem to forget that there are real life human beings involved.

Even the rich and famous can succumb. Over the weekend, JK Rowling became embroiled in an unedifying spat over a transgender football manager. This is not premier league stuff. Lucy Clark hit the headlines in 2018 as the ‘world’s first ever transgender football referee’. Clark has now become the ‘first trans manager in the top five divisions of English women’s football.