Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan shared with fans that she has helped to raise more than £100,000 for a trans rights charity following the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.
The Derry Girls and Barbie star, who has fast become of one of Hollywood’s elite said she was left “completely horrified” by the judgement of the court that stated the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act, refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
Nicola, 38, originally from Galway, Ireland said she would match donations of up to £10,000 for the transgender charity Not A Phase. The charity has now raised £103,018 but has a target of £110,000. Nicola has always been a staunch supporter of the LGBT+ community.
Taking to Instagram, she posted: “Nearly 100k thanks to you kind and brilliant people so delighted for Not A Phase”. The ruling means that transgender women with a gender certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if “proportionate.”
And this may explain why the Hollywood star felt compelled to hit back at Harry Potter creator JK Rowling after she posted a selfie celebrating the ruling.
The author of Harry Potter has made no secret of her views regarding gender over recent years, which is why she shared with fans on X, her joy over the ruling last week. Sat on what appears to be a super yacht with a cigar in hand, the Harry Potter star captioned her post saying: “I love it when a plan comes together.”
And in another post she reportedly wrote: “It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they’ve protected the rights of women and girls across the UK. @ForWomenScot, I’m so proud to know you.”
Seemingly fuming at JK’s post, Nicola shared an article headline that read: “This is a new low for JK Rowling’.” This came before taking a swipe the author and the upcoming Harry Potter TV series. She said: “Keep your new Harry Potter lads. Wouldn’t touch it with a 10ft pole.”
When the ruling was announced to the world, Nicola shared a video of the “stomach-churning” decision. She said: “To see an already marginalised community being further attacked and attacked in law is really stomach churning and disgusting, and to see people celebrate it is more stomach-churning and disgusting.”
She continued: “Make your voice heard and let your trans and non-binary friends and the community at large know that you are there for them and will keep fighting for them.”
Five judges took on the responsibility of deciding whether the legal understanding of ‘woman’ includes trans women with gender recognition certificates (GRC).
Speaking of the ruling, Lord Hodge said: “The terms “woman” and “sex”, in the Equality Act 2010, refer to a biological woman and biological sex. But we counsel against reading this judgement as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another, it is not.”
He added: “The Equality Act 2010 gives transgender people protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender.”
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