J. K. Rowling is still grappling with her polarizing position in the transgender community.
The best-selling British author, who is considered “one of the most famous transphobic writers in the world,” targeted “Harry Potter” stars Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe this time, saying she won’t forgive them for supporting trans rights.
Rowling, a self-described TERF (a trans-exclusionary radical feminist), shared what she called “the most thorough review of the medical evidence for transitioning children that has ever been conducted” on social media on Wednesday.
“There need to be right checks and balances in place before disabled, gay, and exploited kids — groups that are all three at identity clinics — are left sterilized, inorgasmic, long-time patients,” she wrote of sex-affirming treatment, labeling it “medical malpractice.”
“Children have been permanently harmed,” she continued. “And hundreds are involved, not just medics, but the star mouthpieces, unquestioning media, and jaded company.”
A like-minded follower, who wrote in a series of tweets, egged Rowling on, saying they were “just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very common explanation… safe in the knowledge that you will accept them” and that they were famous in the movie adaptations of Rowling’s works.
“No healthy, I’m afraid,” Rowling replied. Celebrities who supported a movement that wanted to diminish women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to support the transition of minors may keep their apologies for traumatized detransitioners and vulnerable women who rely on single-sex spaces.
In 2020, Rowling mocked a title with the phrase “people who menstruate,” and she and her co-stars, Radcliffe and Watson, are among the film’s cast members.
“Transgender people are women,” Radcliffe wrote in an open letter addressing the comments. Any claim that the opposite is true erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all recommendations made by skilled healthcare organizations with much greater expertise in this area.
However, Watson took to Twitter to express, in part, “I want my trans fans to know that I and many others around the world see you, honor you, and love you for who you are.”
Rowling recently said she would “happily” serve time in prison for her pro-trans views.
She allegedly faced backlash from officials last month for intentionally misgendering American TV presenter India Willoughby, which the latter described as a hate crime.
A spokesperson for Northumbria Police confirmed that “a complaint about a post on social media” had been filed, but later revealed that it “did not meet the legal threshold.”
