A private school has dropped JK Rowling as a house name amid her anti-trans comments

A private girl’s school in Warwick has dropped JK Rowling as the name of one of their houses amid her anti-trans comments.

King’s High school announced in 2016 that they would be naming their four school houses after “inspirational female figures”. After a vote put to the students, JK Rowling was decided upon along with Dame Judi Dench, Audrey Hepburn and Emmeline Pankhurst.

But in March this year, the £14,337 a year school dropped JK Rowling as the name for the house, along with the three other women initially chosen, the Daily Mail reports.

This comes after Rowling’s continued anti-trans remarks that have come to a head in the past year. The school has not commented as to why the “inspirational” women were removed as house names.

In response to the backlash against her anti-trans comments, Rowling tweeted: “I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.”

The school now has six houses named after “changemakers”, that have again been decided upon by students. The new houses are now called Jane Austen, Amelia Earhart, Rosalind Franklin, Mary Seacole, Harriet Tubman and Malala Yousafzai.

On the choice of “changemakers” King’s headmaster, Dr Stephen Burley, said: “Changemakers are innovators and creative thinkers, inquisitive and open-minded, keen to test out new ideas and explore new ways of doing things.

“Changemakers have a positive impact on others and their community through inspirational leadership, creative ideas, by demonstrating kindness, compassion, emotional intelligence and empathy.

“Their commitment to leadership is driven by a sense of others rather than self, by a deep-rooted conviction about the importance of social responsibility and making a positive contribution to community.”

In January, a second school also replaced Rowling as one of their house names due to her “comments and viewpoints surrounding trans people” . The Boswells School in Essex changed the name of the house to Dame Kelly Holmes after “requests from students and staff”.

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Featured image before edits via SWNS.