Aurora Starchild
There’s a not-so-old adage about what goes on the internet, stays on the internet. Harry Potter author JK Rowling is probably feeling this sentiment right now. She is once again under fire for controversial transgender comments made two and a half years ago.
Videos by Rare
JK Rowling Is Still Getting Raked Over Coals For Controversial Transgender Comments
JK Rowling beefing with a furry was not on my 2023 bingo card
The recirculating topic is trending on social media right now, with people pointedly calling JK Rowling anti-LGBTQIA and bigoted. The conversation popped back into the public’s awareness following an article posted by The Independent.
Harry Melling, known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter franchise, was asked what he thought about “Rowling’s controversial views on transgender rights.” It was a side question, thrown three paragraphs from the bottom of a lengthy profile feature.
“I can only speak for myself, and what I feel, to me, is very simple,” said Melling, “which is that transgender women are women and transgender men are men. Every single person has the right to choose who they are and to identify themselves as what’s true to themselves. I don’t want to join the debate of pointing fingers and saying, ‘That’s right, that’s wrong,’ because I don’t think I’m the correct spokesperson for that. But I do believe that everybody has the right to choose.”
The Independent noted that Melling echoed similar sentiments to Daniele Radcliffe. Radcliffe had previously written a short essay for The Trevor Project.
“I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you,” Radcliffe wrote. Other Harry Potter stars joined in, declaring their support for the transgender community while condemning bigotry towards it. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were among those who spoke out.
JK Rowling Tweeted About Female Erasure in 2022, Infuriated Many People
JK Rowling sparked rage among fans and the LGBTQIA community after a series of tweets posted on June 6, 2020. The author was responding to an op-ed article on Devex, titled “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate.”
Rowling took offense to the term “people who menstruate,” as her post seemed to imply the idea of female erasure. Female erasure is a standpoint that has also gotten Bette Midler into a heap of Twitter trouble. It largely is considered to exclusively exist in opposition to trans-inclusive language. Such was the case with Rowling’s comment:
“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” She added a link to the Devex article below.
The tweet was immediately flooded with comments accusing Rowling of being anti-trans. People and businesses alike posted memes berating Rowling. Straight women with hysterectomies called her out for her cruelty. The battle had begun, and it was going to be bloody.
In response to the immediate backlash, JK Rowling kept tweeting. She somehow thought this would help things. Meanwhile, the Harry Potter franchise was already being roped into Rowling’s comment, with a mass threat of cultural cancelation.
JK Rowling Kept Doubling Down, Burying Herself Deeper
“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,” the author tweeted. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
There it was. She had officially announced that she felt women were being erased. As a side note, the idea of erasure is also echoed by white supremacists who are afraid of being erased by people of color. As a whole, it comes across as narrow-minded and offensive to civil rights activists.
However, Rowling attempted to separate the idea that fearing female erasure equates to being anti-trans.
Rowling continued, “The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women – ie, to male violence – ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences – is nonsense.
“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.”
Rowling Was Met With Onslaught of Criticism For Her Transgender Comments
The top comment under Rowling’s concluding tweet clarified what the problem was. It was that Rowling seemed to be separating “women” from “trans women.”
“It’s not hate if u say that YOU’RE a woman. It’s HARMFUL 2 say TRANSWOMEN are men. thus not a hypothetical “If”, but WHEN WE ARE DISCRIMINATED against IS CLEAR if u connect reports of VIOLENCE & removal of transfolk from: _____. In Disregarding that point u appear 2 CHOOSE HATE,” wrote Miss Peppermint, a black trans performer and activist.
“If you think trans women aren’t women, then you don’t respect a trans person’s ‘right to live any way that feels authentic.’ Nobody will want to march with you,” wrote freelance writer Carli Velocci.
Rowling Then Tried to Explain Herself in an Essay That Was Way Too Long
Despite thousands of comments wherein people attempted to educate JK Rowling on her mistake, she doubled down 4 days later. In a 3,700-word essay posted to her website, she explained herself away. But truly, Rowling was doomed by the end of her preamble, which began with a personal history of supporting women who have been accused of being anti-trans.
Rowling continued to explain that she’s been canceled on numerous occasions, once for tweeting support for Maya Forstater. Maya had lost her job after posting “transphobic tweets.” Next, Rowling said she’d received backlash for following Magdalen Berns on Twitter. Magdalen was a lesbian feminist dying of a brain tumor, who had been condemned due to her steadfast belief in biological sex.
The author continued to explain how she’d been called a variety of derogatory names, including “TERF.” TERF is an acronym for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist.” Rowling also repeatedly emphasized that she stands with trans people, but at the same time feels that cis-gendered females have it harder due to the trans movement.
…As many women have said before me, ‘woman’ is not a costume. ‘Woman’ is not an idea in a man’s head. ‘Woman’ is not a pink brain, a liking for Jimmy Choos or any of the other sexist ideas now somehow touted as progressive. Moreover, the ‘inclusive’ language that calls female people ‘menstruators’ and ‘people with vulvas’ strikes many women as dehumanising and demeaning. I understand why trans activists consider this language to be appropriate and kind, but for those of us who’ve had degrading slurs spat at us by violent men, it’s not neutral, it’s hostile and alienating.
J.K. Rowling, via her website
In the end, the essay did nothing but backfire on Rowling. It triggered a slew of objections from Harry Potter actors, who made it clear that they stood with the trans community.
The Controversy Seems Like It’s Here to Stay
It doesn’t seem like this problem is going away any time soon for Rowling. A quick search on Twitter shows the comments are still coming in. There are #IStandWithRowling supporters out there, too, however. There are currently people calling for her to be Scotland’s Woman of the Year.
What’s more, while JK Rowling still received a nearly $22 million payout from publishers in 2022, others have pointed to a drop in sales. The Bookseller noted that the Harry Potter publishing company, Pottermore, saw a whopping 40% drop in sales last year. Whether the drop has anything to do with JK Rowling’s allegedly anti-trans comments is undetermined.
