J.K. Rowling has faced criticism for her past comments regarding the trans community.
J.K. Rowling once hinted that she would never forgive Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe after they expressed support for trans rights.
The Harry Potter author has attracted significant controversy in recent years, particularly for comments made in June 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rowling shared a link to an article titled “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate” and mocked efforts to be inclusive of the trans community. She commented, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Rowling faced significant backlash following her comments, with Harry Potter stars Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe publicly supporting the trans community.
Radcliffe apologized for the “pain” caused by Rowling’s remarks, writing an essay for The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ+ organization. Watson, meanwhile, reassured her trans followers, saying, “I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you, and love you for who you are.”
Despite the widespread criticism, many expected Rowling to distance herself from such comments. However, earlier this year, she sparked further controversy with additional remarks that deepened the divide within the trans community.
Rowling shared a now-deleted tweet about the Cass Review, which investigates gender services for young people in the UK, specifically focusing on the use of puberty blockers.
She described Dr. Hilary Cass’ report as “the most robust review of the medical evidence for transitioning children that’s ever been conducted” and claimed the findings indicated that “kids have been irreversibly harmed.”
Rowling further stated, “Thousands are complicit, not just medics, but the celebrity mouthpieces, unquestioning media, and cynical corporations.”
In response to a Twitter user who speculated that Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson would offer Rowling a public apology, Rowling clarified that the two actors were not “safe” in that assumption.
“Not safe, I’m afraid,” she wrote. “Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single-s3x spaces.”
Rowling has previously stated she would not retract her stance on misgendering transgender people, emphasizing that she would not “delete posts calling a man a man.” She also expressed that she would “happily” face imprisonment rather than use a transgender person’s preferred pronouns, saying, “I’ll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of s3x.”
