The Harry Potter author is one of the most influential voices in the gender debate and sent her best wishes to the LGB Alliance conference which aims to protect the rights of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals

JK Rowling was met with cheers as she sent a message to supporters who have backed her in the gender debate. The Harry Potter author has emerged as an influential voice in the protection of sex-based rights with her views leading to death threats and abuse on social media.

She sent a message to the annual LGB Alliance conference, which is taking place on Friday, October 11. And she was cheered by delegates when she stated: “Lesbians don’t have penises!” Founded in 2019, LGB Alliance aims to assert “the right of lesbians, bisexuals and gay men to define themselves as same-sex attracted”.

The group has emerged as an opponent of Stonewall on transgender issues and opposed controversial gender recognition legislation brought forward in the Scottish Parliament. Edinburgh-based Rowling, 59, sent a video message to the conference.

She described herself as a “fellow supporter and ally” as she sent her “very best wishes to the conference”. She added: “As I’ve said many times before, it must be right that lesbians, gay men and bisexuals are able to live and love freely and define themselves accurately because as has been said before, if sex isn’t real, there is no same-sex attraction.

“I used to donate to organisations who now appear to have abandoned their remit which was once defending the rights of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. I know many of you too will have donated to support or volunteered for those organisations.

“So I’m thrilled the LGB Alliance was created and that it has continued to go from strength to strength.” After asserting that “lesbians don’t have penises”, she praised Alliance founders Bev Jackson and Kate Harris “for their courage and hard work”.

It comes after Rowling sought to define her own views amid claims there is no such thing as a “trans” person. She said she does not believe “that a person can be born in the wrong body” or in “gendered brains or souls”.

She added: “I believe the ideology that preaches such ideas is dangerous. However, there are people in this world who want to present as the opposite sex for many diverse reasons – some of which I’m truly sympathetic to, others far less so – all of whom call themselves ‘trans.’

“I use the word ‘trans’ in the full awareness that this umbrella term covers multiple groups who have nothing else in common with each other, such as straight men who enjoy cross-dressing for erotic purposes and young lesbians who, tragically, feel they’ll be happier without their breasts. When I talk about sex-based rights, I use the word ‘trans’ to denote ‘people who wish to be seen or treated as the opposite sex’, no more or less.

“Telling me ad nauseam that ‘there is no such thing as a trans person’ isn’t overly helpful, because you’re trying to pull me into a different argument, on which I’ve already made my position clear.”