In her new essay, Rowling – whose pen name is purposely gender-neutral and who also writes under the alias Robert Galbraith – writes that her views on trans rights have not changed. But, she adds, “the landscape certainly has, and my own involvement in the issue has become practical as well as theoretical, so I thought it was time for an update.”

Rowling is correct. Since she published her 2020 essay, well-funded advocacy like hers in both the U.K. and the U.S. has steadily eroded transgender people’s access to single-sex spaces and sports teams that align with their gender identity, as well as their ability to obtain official documents that accurately reflect their gender identity and their access to gender-affirming care.