Many of the Harry Potter movie celebrities have addressed the row involving J.K. Rowling.
After publicly expressing support for trans people, JK Rowling has suggested she won’t “forgive” Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.
Radcliffe and Watson spoke out against Rowling, in favor of trans equality, after the author published a lengthy essay, “TERF Wars,” in June 2020, outlining her “concerns” about trans rights.
Radcliffe, who portrayed the young wizard in all eight Harry Potter movies, responded with a blog post for LGBTQ+ charity The Trevor Project following the article and a series of posts in which Rowling claimed it “isn’t hate to speak the truth” about transgender people.
In it, he declared his support for the transgender community, affirmed that “transgender women are women,” and apologized for the “pain” caused by Rowling’s remarks.
Similarly, Watson, who portrayed Harry’s friend Hermione Granger, wrote on social media that “trans people are who they say they are” and that they “deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”
Now, Rowling has directly responded to the criticism, suggesting she won’t forgive the pair, even if they were to apologize and reverse their stance.
Following the release of the Cass report, which made a number of recommendations regarding changing the way trans youth receive healthcare in the UK, Rowling stated in a lengthy thread on X/Twitter yesterday (10 April) that she was “bloody angry.”
“I read Cass last night, and my anger has been rising all day. Children have been permanently harmed, and thousands are involved, not just medics, but the star mouthpieces, unquestioning media, and jaded corporations,” she claimed.
After one believer demanded Radcliffe and Watson give her a “very public explanation, safe in the knowledge that]Rowling] will accept them,” the author responded: “Not safe, I’m scared.”
She continued, “Celebs who cosied up to a movement that aims to diminish women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to support the transition of adolescents can keep their sympathies for traumatized detransitioners and vulnerable people who rely on single-sex spaces.”
While the Cass report suggested that there are still unknown numbers of transgender people who detransition, a recent study found that only 1% of transgender teenagers in Australia ended up detransitioning once they began medical treatment.
Rowling’s comments regarding Cass come only days after she criticized the introduction of Scotland’s new anti-hate crime legislation.
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 came into effect on 1 April, consolidating existing hate crime laws in the devolved nation.
It includes a new offense of inciting hatred against people based on protected characteristics, including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, and transgender identity.
After being told to remove posts on social media where she had deliberately misrepresented many transgender women, Rowling referred to the legislation as “ludicrous.”
She has recently stated that she would rather go to prison than use a trans person’s preferred pronoun when referring to them.
Other Harry Potter actors who have spoken out in support of transgender people include his on-screen sister Bonnie Wright and Rupert Grint – Ron Weasley in the hit movies– who “firmly stands with the trans community.” I see and love you.”
