Glamour UK has publicly defended its latest issue—which honours nine transgender women under the banner “Women of the Year”—following a sharp commentary from author J.K. Rowling.

Rowling posted on X that she “grew up in an era when mainstream women’s magazines told girls they needed to be thinner and prettier.

Now mainstream women’s magazines tell girls that men are better women than they are.”

The cover features the nine trans women wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Protect the Dolls,” a phrase derived from 1980s ballroom culture and used to express solidarity with trans women.

The magazine said it selected these trailblazers because “as trans rights face increasing threat in the UK … these voices work tirelessly to empower, uplift and celebrate trans individuals.”

In response to Rowling’s post, Glamour UK’s social channels posted simply: “Better luck next year Jo x.” The publication then issued a statement asserting that it “categorically rejects Rowling’s misgendering of our brilliant cover stars” and concluded with “Stay mad, JK.”

Rowling has long been outspoken on gender identity issues, and the exchange comes amid widening cultural-debate lines on representation, media, and the definition of “woman.” Meanwhile right-wing figures including Katie Miller and others echoed Rowling’s criticism, asserting that the cover signals a shift away from traditional women’s rights.

At the same time, at the awards event one of the magazine’s honoured trans figures, Munroe Bergdorf, spoke of the exclusion of trans women as “segregating society from humanity.”

The incident highlights how legacy women’s media is being pulled into heated identity-and-rights debates, with publishers, authors and public figures taking opposing stances on who gets to be celebrated as a “woman” today.