JK Rowling is attacking another African sportswoman for not being feminine enough

Anti-trans activist JK Rowling is obsessed with policing the bodies of women, particularly African women. You may remember her campaign of bullying against Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif. Khelif is a cis female but that wasn’t good enough for Rowling.

She had once failed a gender test—no-one has ever made it clear what this gender test was or why she failed it—and this caused Rowling to call her, “a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment.” Again, there is no evidence Khelif has any male characteristics whatsoever. Khelif has now taken legal action against Rowling and the other right-wing figures who attacked her.

But now, the whole cycle is starting all over again, with a different woman. This is Barbra Banda, an accomplished footballer from Zambia. She was recently named Women’s Footballer of the Year by the BBC, and like Khelif she once failed a gender test. Once again, the exact nature of the test is murky, but it’s thought to have something to do with testosterone levels. Again, though, she is not male, and there’s no evidence she’s intersex either.

So of course Rowling has thrown herself into this situation and began making it all about her. She reposted an article about Banda winning the award and snapped, “Presumably the BBC decided this was more time efficient than going door to door to spit directly in women’s faces.”

Beneath that post, another transphobe commented that the current BBC Director of Sport, the openly gay Alex Kay-Jelski, had his children via surrogate. Rowling then wrote, “Yep, femaleness is just post-modern performance art until they need an incubator.” This is worrying anti-gay sentiment, but Rowling’s followers do not care.

Barbra Banda hasn’t commented on this racist media storm yet, but luckily other people have stepped up to defend her. One of these is legendary footballer Megan Rapinoe, who took to Instagram Stories to write, “We’re with her.” Banda’s football team Orlando Pride have likewise come out to stand against the hate. They said in a statement, “We are incredibly proud that Barbra has been voted as the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year, one of many outstanding achievements she has accomplished during this historic 2024 season … Barbra is an incredible role model and advocate for soccer in Africa, and we have seen firsthand the influence that her achievements and philanthropy have had on young girls in Zambia, as well as the instant impact she has made on Orlando’s soccer community.”

Rowling is often talking about how people need to do more for young girls, and yet bullies someone who is doing exactly that. Well, hopefully there will be another lawsuit coming her way soon.