If we can define that gender identity is, in effect, a religious belief then by default we also define being gender critical as, in effect, a lack of that religious belief.
This would actually then protect anyone who did not follow Gender Identity Religion.
Given the very concept of 'being born in the wrong body' and the idea that its not a medical issue and that you don't have to have a god to be religion, and it being at odds with biology and scientific findings a good lawyer could argue the case on these terms too FOR being Gender Critical.
But the point is you have to get to the lawyer stage (where costs and stress are involved) to demonstrate this and have it legally set out in precedent.
Ironically it would be to the BENEFIT of those who are Gender Critical to essentially have this done in the long run to head off all the subsequent ongoing threats of 'you are committing a hate crime' to have gender critical beliefs protected in law in various different ways because it stops Stonewall Law AND it also raises serious questions about the logging of hate non-crimes (which probably breach GDPR anyway because what is the legitimate purpose and aim of storing information about someone's religious / non religious views if they are perfectly legal? The only purpose they can be used for is for discriminatory ones) AND it raises questions about vexatious and malicious reporting of Gender Critical women as a form of harassment, coercion and intimidation (which arguably it is - and we can see from the use of language from certain penatrative useful idiots and their friends).
The more publicity JKR can generate the more women are protected without the benefit of a Show Trial. Its one of those 'no such thing as bad publicity' scenarios.
JKR has stopped someone else being the victim of the much wanted Show Trial. But the outcome of a Show Trial was probably always likely to be in favour of GC Women anyway. The benefit of a Show Trial probably wasn't ever going to be establish Trans Gender Rights in the way activists hope. They didn't want a Show Trial. They wanted an easy target who would struggle to defend themselves legally and it would be the silencing effect of process and public humilation that was the aim. The whole 'under the radar' approach we've seen repeated. Stick a person who has the ability to defend themselves well, using the actual law in the dock and the whole thing falls apart.
The dynamics themselves well illustrate the issues of abuse of power by the state and various powerful institutions against the individual and why we have the ECHR and the Human Rights Act (which is all about combatting abuses of power) and why the traditions of British Media have been all about holding power to account through effectively whistleblowing.
The second you say, 'you can't say that' and kill the concept of 'in the public interest' you have killed ALL human rights protections and ALL whistleblowing protections because you had ALL power to those who make law and enforce law (this includes by social pressure to conform as well as actual law and abuse of law).
I'm NOT a lawyer nor have I studied law but understanding these concepts about power dynamics are a crucial part of studying media. If you study media you should be looking at the workings of liberal democracy to a decent level. I know that I covered the Three Pillars before University too.
(The Three Pillars are the Justice System, the Media and the Elected State where the other two always hold the third to account in terms of power in a liberal democracy - there are massive issues with this balance being off in various Western Democracies at the moment - in part because of a technology change in communication. The last big technology change coincided with the French Revolution and US War of Independence. Misinformation was a HUGE part of the propaganda for both and it took time for this to settle into an situation where the law caught up with the abuses of power from this. But it did. We are seeing similar now).
Look at the media backgrounds to MN's founders. It will tell you everything you need to know. They got this all along too imho.