JK Rowling and Elon Musk have taken the lead in mocking the Scottish Government’s latest move to introduce a list of 24 gender identities.
The list is meant to be used by public bodies for data collection and included terms like “genderfluid,” “intersex,” and “neutral.”
As the list sparked a heated debate, the Harry Potter author, 59, weighed in on social media with her signature dose of sarcasm, aligning with her known history of anti-trans rhetoric.
JK Rowling and Elon Musk were at the forefront of criticism against the Scottish Government’s new list of 24 gender identities
Image credits: Scottish National Party (SNP)
Image credits: jccards
The controversial writer questioned whether people whose “astro-identity” don’t match the sign they were assigned at birth would also be formally recognized.
“As the Scottish Endarkenment gathers pace, star signs will follow. As a Nont*, I expect all 336** astro-identities to be recognised.
* Person whose astro-identity doesn’t match the sign they were assigned at birth (NON-Twelver)
** Number may change ***
*** Upwards, obviously,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Not to be left out, tech billionaire Elon also joined the conversation by responding to the author’s tweet.
He posted an emoji of a nut, suggesting that he believes the gender list is “nuts.”
The Harry Potter author, known for her controversial views on gender, took to social media with a sarcastic jab
Image credits: Andrew Milligan/PA Images
Image credits: jk_rowling
The Tesla founder has also been vocal about his anti-transgender views in the past, particularly relating to his own daughter.
Scotland’s SNP government included the list of 24 genders in the guidance for public bodies that collect data on sex and gender.
The list allows people to choose their gender from the list, which includes the following terms:
Cisgender, Trans man, Trans woman, Non-Binary, Trans - not otherwise specified, Agender, Trans masculine, Trans feminine, Genderfluid, Genderqueer, Questioning, Intersex, Assigned female at birth - not specified, Assigned male at birth - not specified, Pangender, Bigender, Autigender, Androgynous, Gender non-conforming, Detransitioned, Neutral, Demigender - female, Demigender - male and Demigender - not otherwise specified.
Tech mogul Elon Musk chimed in with a simple emoji response—a nut
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Image credits: elonmusk
"The point of the survey is to collect information on the respondents' trans history and how they would define it,” a Scottish Government spokesperson said, as quoted by The Scotsman.
“It is therefore important that the survey is designed in such a way that allows that information to be captured,” the spokesperson added.
The release of the list contradicts the views of Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney, who previously asserted that there are only two genders.
"There is the male and female gender," he said during a BBC radio phone-in show in July.
Dr. Genny Beemyn, Director of the Stonewall Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said the Scottish Government’s list is just a small slice of how people define their gender.
There could be "hundreds" of ways for individuals to name their gender," Dr. Genny pointed out.
"The 24 is a somewhat arbitrary number. There are hundreds of ways that people name their gender," they told Bored Panda.
The list contradicts the views of Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney, who said he believes there are only two genders: male and female
Image credits: Ken Jack/Getty Images
The nonbinary educator, author, and activist has been conducting researching using the Common App, a widely used college application platform, self-described as the largest database that asks college students about their gender identity.
The Common App gathered gender identity data from over 1.25 million students for Fall 2024 matriculation across 1,078 colleges, with 3,570 students identifying as trans or nonbinary and an additional 15,016 marking their gender as nonbinary, according to the results shared with Bored Panda.
"In my research using the Common App (the admission form used by more than a million students to apply to over 1,000 U.S. colleges), I found that students indicated about 100 different genders," Dr. Genny added.
In 2024, out of 3,570 students who indicated a trans or nonbinary gender on the Common App, 43.60% (1,557 students) identified as genderfluid, making it the most common gender identity in this group.
Other notable categories include agender at 11.90% (425 students), genderqueer at 8.93% (319 students), and trans man/male at 7.48% (267 students).
Less common identities included demigirl at 3.61%, questioning at 2.88%, and trans at 2.44%. The smallest percentages were seen for bigender (2.10%), gender nonconforming (2.02%), and gender nonbinary (1.88%).
One social media user seemed to suggest that JK Rowling is "obsessed" with the subject of gender with her overly vocal criticism
