The women’s rights campaign by Harry Potter writer J.K. Rowling has lost the support of many stars whose careers the boy wizard started, but she can rely on a tight network of supporters to assist her.
The 58-year-old author, who furthermore writes crime novels under the name Robert Galbraith, has assembled a group of friends who are concerned that expanding transgender rights may violate the rights of women.
Her years- lengthy campaign for what she labels ‘ sex- based rights ‘ has seen previous Potter stars range themselves from the straight writer- and instantly express unambiguous support for transgender rights.
She said she was unlikely to accept superstars like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for their opinions after the release of the Cass Review, which found that female services for children were not making decisions based on supported medical information.
She has also gained the support of another politicians who claim that giving trans people more rights will expose women, including those who have worked for academic institutions and lawyers, some of whom have battled their views in court.
Rowling was criticised in 2018 after she liked a tweet describing transgender women as ‘ gentlemen in gowns’. Her at the time described the incident as a “mistake,” calling it a” stupid middle-aged time.”
However, the author has since started a plan to defend what she calls children’s rights, which has been fueled by her own experiences of domestic abuse.
That plan has seen her resist policy in Scotland that sought to make it easier for transgender people to change their lawful sex, and she has provided financial support to those fighting judge situations challenging the legal standing of transgender people.
In Edinburgh, where trans women are exempt from receiving services under the Equality Act, Rowling later funded and opened Beira’s Place, a women’s refuge there.
She has repeatedly purposefully misrepresented trans women in posts on social media, including those by prominent figures like newsreader India Willoughby and a number of convicted sex offenders, including rapist Isla Bryson.
Rowling has denied accusations she is transphobic, and police said recent tweets in which she misgendered trans women did not fall foul of Scotland’s new hate crime laws, which outlaw ‘ stirring up ‘ hate against transgender people.
She claimed in a protracted 3,600-word statement on her website published in 2020 that her stance on trans rights was derived from her personal experiences of sexual assault and abuse.
She wrote that” when you open the doors of any man who believes or feels he’s a woman,” you also open the door to any and all men who want to enter. That is the simple truth.’
However, her comments from June 2020 drew the ire of many actors whose careers were launched by appearing in the Harry Potter film series as children as well as those who have made appearances in the spin-off series Fantastic Beasts.
Following Rowling’s remarks that he explicitly stated:” Transgender women are women, Daniel Radcliffe, 34, who began playing the boy wizard wizard Potter at age 12 wrote a blog for LGBTQ+ charity The Trevor Project.
He added: ‘ Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo ( Rowling ) or I. ‘
Radcliffe apologized to those who he claimed may feel that their enjoyment of the Harry Potter books had been “tarnished or diminished.”
In a tweet that was read 842, 000 times, Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, said:” Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they are n’t who they say they are.”
The 33- year- old previously shared an image of herself in a t- shirt reading: ‘ Trans rights are human rights.’
Meanwhile, Rupert Grint told The Times,” I stand firmly with the trans community and echo the sentiments of many of my peers.”
In a later essay, Grint, who is best known for his role as Ron Weasley’s best friend, wrote that Rowling is still considered “my auntie” and that he may disagree with some of her opinions. It’s a tricky one.’
Rowling’s comments have also been criticized by a number of other Potter actors, including Chris Rankin ( Percy Weasley ), Bonnie Wright ( Ginny Weasley ), and Katie Leung ( Cho Chang ).
Following Rowling’s remarks, Wright simply stated in a tweet that” transwomen are women.” I see and love you.’
Leung started a Twitter thread in 2020 that allegedly offered her thoughts on Cho Chang’s character before sharing links to a number of organizations that support transgender people of color.
Redmayne, who played Newt Scamander in the spin-off series Fantastic Beasts, said:” I disagree with Jo’s comments. Trans women are women, trans men are men and non- binary identities are valid.
They simply want to live peacefully, and it’s time to do so.
In the movie The Danish Girl, he portrayed transgender artist Lili Elbe, who is thought to be one of the first people in history to have undergone sex-reassignment surgery.
Responding to the reactions to her initial comments from some of those attached to her creative endeavours, Rowling said at the time it was’ nonsense’ to suggest she’ hated’ trans people.
She continued,” I respect every trans person’s right to live in any way that feels right and comfortable for them.”
I’d march with you if you faced discrimination because you were trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do n’t think it’s hateful to say that.
Rowling stated last night on X that she was unsurprising of those who had spoken out in support of trans people after her 2020 comments.
Responding to a tweet that asked whether the likes of Radcliffe and Watson would apologise to the author,’ safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them’, she said: ‘ Not safe, I’m afraid.’
Celebs who cosied up a movement that aims to diminish women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to support the transition of minors can save their apologies for traumatized detransitioners and vulnerable women who rely on single sex spaces, the writer continued.
However, Rowling has retained allies among other Potter stars, including Ralph Fiennes and Jason Isaacs, despite losing the support of many of those whose careers she indirectly helped launch.
In 2022, Isaacs told The Telegraph: ‘ There’s a bunch of stuff about Jo… I do n’t want to get drawn into the trans issues, talking about them, because it’s such an extraordinary minefield.
One of the things that people should know about her too is that, through her charity Lumos, she has poured a lot of her fortune into making the world a much better place.
And that is unquestionably excellent. Many of us Harry Potter actors have worked for it, and seen on the ground the work that they do.’
Fiennes, in contrast, claimed in 2021 that he could not comprehend the “level of hatred” directed at the author and that he found it “disturbing.”
He later claimed in an interview with The New York Times:” The verbal abuse directed at ( Rowling ) is disgusting, it’s appalling. I mean, I can understand a viewpoint that might be angry at what she says about women.
However, it’s not some obscene, ultra-right-wing fascist. It’s just a woman saying,” I’m a woman and I feel like I’m a woman, and I want to be able to say that.”
The late Robbie Coltrane, who played the half- giant gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid in the Potter films, also defended Rowling before his death in October 2022.
He claimed to the Radio Times in 2020 that the author’s critics “hang around and waiting to be offended,” adding,” They would n’t have won the war, would they?”
Rowling was initially accused of being “on the wrong side of this debate,” but later changed her mind in February 2023 when she reacted to some of her comments in the Potter films.
She praised Rowling for amplifying the voices of those who choose to detransition after believing they were trans- but added to the Telegraph that she did not want to add to trans people’s ‘ pain’.
And Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter’s school nemesis, appeared to avoid side in a 2020 interview with BBC Radio 4.
He said,” I’m quick to remind myself and others that Potter has for some reason brought more people together across the world and generations than probably anything else has in the last 20 years, and I’m quick to celebrate that.
‘ It came from one person and that’s her so I’m very grateful.’
Outside of the boy wizard’s realm, Rowling has also assembled a group of activists who claim to support” sex-based rights.”
In Fulham, west London, she and many others met for a self-acquired boozy lunch in 2022, and many of the attendees shared photos with them online.
Among those in Rowling’s sex- based rights squad are Julie Bindel, the self- described’ radical feminist’ and researcher into violence against women, as well as several members of the campaign group Sex Matters and some MPs.
Bindel claimed this week that the Cass Review provides “validity” to transgender campaigners who have pleaded so long for sanity on transgender issues.
Helen Joyce, the author of Trans, a non-fiction book about gender and activist, is also credited with supporting the Harry Potter author.
Joyce, who described herself in a February statement as’ countering the pernicious influence of gender- identity ideology’, tweeted Rowling last month to offer encouragement after the writer highlighted abusive comments she received.
Joyce once said,” It’s not about what you say; it’s because you’re speaking at all.” Keep going! xx.’ She has refuted prior transphobic accusations.
Professor Kathleen Stock, an academic who quit her position at the University of Sussex after students and a trade union called for her to leave, was one of the people who were also pictured wining and dining with Rowling.
Stock has advocated for many years against allowing trans women to access women’s spaces, and has maintained a position that men cannot become women by undergoing sex reassignment surgery. She denies that she is transphobic.
Allison Bailey, a lesbian barrister who founded LGB Alliance, a charity that has been accused of having transphobia, is one of its supporters. It claims that its “focus is solely on lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people.”
Bailey crowdfunded a £550, 000 tribunal case after her law firm, Garden Court Chambers, announced an investigation into her social media use amid accusations of transphobia, she was awarded £22, 000 in damages.
GCC was uncovered to have discriminated against her by tweeting that it would investigate her tweets, but she lost her lawsuit against LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, alleging that they had unfairly influenced the chambers into acting against her.
She left the bar in 2023, but she is no longer practicing law.
Rowling also has political allies, including Labour MP for Canterbury Rosie Duffield- who speaks out on women’s issues regularly.
Following an internal Labour Party investigation that was launched after she liked a tweet from former comedic writer Graham Linehan in January, Duffield was cleared of all transphobic accusations.
The MP has “vehemently denied” her claims that she is transphobic and that the investigation has” completely exonerated” her of any such accusations.
Elsewhere on the political spectrum, Rowling also counts SNP MP Joanna Cherry as an ally. In 2009, Silk became the then-Queen’s Counsel because she is a lesbian and top attorney.
Last month, the Harry Potter author wished the Edinburgh South West representative a happy birthday by calling her a “brave and brilliant friend.”
Cherry responded: ‘ Thank you! I’m so happy to call you a friend for so many reasons, but mostly because of your tenacity and courage xxx. She has denied that she opposes the existence of trans people.
Rowling has also given her support to former tennis star Martina Navratilova, considered one of the greatest players of all time, who has campaigned against allowing trans people to compete in professional sports competitions.
Navratilova responded to a tweet in 2023 that claimed she had “above average testosterone levels for a woman” during her career in the 1970s and 1980s, writing:” My ovaries beg to differ.
Rowling responded,” I f****** love you,” to which the tennis player responded,” This means a lot- thank you Queen: )”
Many of Rowling’s allies also regularly share one another’s tweets on Twitter, now known as X under the ownership of Elon Musk.
And Rowling also has an army of pseudonymous supporters on X who hang on her every word, aside from her famous friends. Some claim that posting under their real names would put them at risk.
One said earlier this year: ‘ We’re all fighting the same fight. Shaming women who remain anonymous for very good reasons does n’t help us.