Bridgerton star raises £100k for trans charity amid furious swipe at JK Rowling over woman definition ruling
Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan has raised more than £100,000 for transgender charity Not A Phase.
The 38-year-old’s Irish star actress launched the campaign on Thursday after the British Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.
The fundraiser, which initially aimed to collect £10,000, has now reached £103,018 with a revised target of £110,000.
Coughlan shared the donation page on her Instagram story yesterday, saying: “Nearly 100k thanks to you kind and brilliant people so delighted for Not A Phase”.
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In a video shared on Instagram, Coughlan expressed her dismay at the ruling.
“Like many people, I’m completely horrified by the Supreme Court’s ruling about trans people, and to see an already marginalised community being further attacked and attacked in law is really stomach-churning and disgusting,” she said.
The 38-year-old actress was equally critical of those celebrating the decision.
“And to see people celebrating it is more stomach-churning and disgusting,” she added
Coughlan pledged to match donations up to £10,000 and urged others to speak up.
“Now is the time to speak up and make your voice heard and let your trans and non-binary friends and the community at large know that you’re there for them.”
Coughlan has also hit out at Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who celebrated the ruling on social media.
Rowling posted images of herself smoking a cigar and tweeted “I love it when a plan comes together” alongside photos of champagne glasses.
The Derry Girls star shared an article suggesting Rowling’s celebration was “a new low” and wrote: “Keep your new Harry Potter lads. Wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.”
In another post, Coughlan rejected the notion that the ruling benefits cisgender women.
“I have never been made feel unsafe by a trans person in my life. The only people I’ve been made feel unsafe by are cis people,” she wrote.
I love it when a plan comes together.#SupremeCourt #WomensRights pic.twitter.com/agOkWmhPgb
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 16, 2025
Speaking in the Supreme Court, Lord Hodge insisted it was merely “our role to ascertain the meaning of the legislation which parliament has enacted to that end.”
He added: “The central question on this appeal is the meaning of the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010.
“Do those terms refer to biological women or biological sex? Or is a woman to be interpreted as extending to a trans woman with a gender recognition certificate?
“The terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
Judge Lord Hodge stressed that the decision was not a “triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another”.