Is this the J.K. Rowling revolution? A new Gallup poll shows that fewer Americans believe it is moral for someone to change his gender. In 2021, 46% of Americans said it was morally acceptable, but five years later, only 38% of Americans think so. What happened? Well, there were swings among several demographics. Only 5% of Republicans now think gender transition is moral, down from 22%. Even among Democrats, there’s been a decline: 60% think it’s moral now, down from 67%. Middle-aged and older Americans are also rethinking their views. About half (51%) of 35- to 54-year-olds thought gender transition was moral in 2021. Only 40% agreed in 2026. Similarly, support among the 55-and-older crowd declined 14 percentage points, from 38% to 24%, during that same time period. But the most notable change, in my view, was among women. In 2021, half of women believed it was morally acceptable for someone to change his gender. Today, only 38% of women believe that—a drop of 12 percentage points. Apparently, a significant number of American women saw what it looked like when a man appropriated their gender—and decided their initial tolerance was misplaced. Perhaps it was seeing William Thomas, who prefers to be called Lia Thomas, tower over his competitor Riley Gaines, who tied with him for fifth place in a 2022 NCAA championship race. Maybe it was seeing Adm. and then high-ranking HHS official Richard Levine, who asks to be called Rachel, be picked as one of USA Today’s 12 Women of the Year in 2022. Perhaps it was hearing that in California, “men in state prisons, including violent felons charged with sex crimes and who have intact genitals, can request transfer to women’s prisons based on self-identification as transgender,” as a March Justice Department press release states. Maybe it was after a New Jersey Korean spa caved last year and now allows men to be present in nude women’s spaces after settling a lawsuit from a man who identifies as a woman. Perhaps no woman has taken more hate for raising concerns about gender transition than “Harry Potter” author Rowling. Rowling is hardly a social conservative: in 2007, eight years before the Obergefell Supreme Court decision, she announced that Albus Dumbledore, one of the most beloved characters in the children’s series, was gay. Yet her clear advocacy for women and refusal to kowtow to the woke doctrine that gender can be changed have made her a pariah. She has been denounced by numerous actors and other talent affiliated with the movies based on her books. There have been threats of boycotts of newer Harry Potter projects, including an HBO series based on the books. But, perhaps fortified by Rowling’s courage in refusing to cave on this matter, more women seem to be realizing they don’t need to glorify and praise gender transition or pretend they are comfortable with biological males in women’s spaces. Time and time again, Rowling has highlighted on X the effects the gender transition movement is having on women. Just this Thursday, she shared a video of a teenage girl wrestler who was sexually assaulted in the course of (unknowingly) wrestling with a biological male. “Appalling,” wrote Rowling. “I want those who champion men in women’s sport to explain why they’re happy to put girls at risk like this.” She recently criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for appointing Harriet Harman as his adviser on women and girls, noting that Harman had said in 2022, “So as far as I’m concerned, women are women who are born women, but women are also women who are trans women.” In 2024, in the course of defending women’s right to women-only bathrooms and changing rooms, Rowling criticized a trans broadcaster, saying, “There isn’t a lady in this one , just a man revelling in his misogynistic performance of what he thinks ‘woman’ means: narcissistic, shallow and exhibitionist.” “India didn’t become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is,” Rowling also said. The broadcaster subsequently reported Rowling to the police for a hate crime. Rowling ultimately wasn’t charged. But the media coverage of her comments missed the main point: Rowling was defending women’s rights to keep them safe. “[A]llowing males into female-only spaces on the basis of their claim to be a women removes an obstacle that has hitherto been proven to increase women and girls’ safety,” she wrote. “88% of sexual crimes committed in changing/locker rooms happen in those that are unisex. Why? Because malign men don’t have to justify their presence near unclothed women and girls.” This is the type of concern that resonates with women. Interestingly, this year’s results are an outlier from the past several years. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, 47% to 48% of women thought it was morally acceptable to change one’s gender. Time will tell if the 2026 numbers are a blip—or the first indicator of a significant shift. If the shift persists, it’s likely Rowling’s influence played a critical role. At a real personal cost, she has been brave and outspoken on this issue, ensuring that society did not simply slide into a consensus of affirming gender transition. Now, seeing the effects of gender transition on society, more women seem to be waking up—and sharing her perspective.