“Harry Potter” author and outspoken transphobe (TERF) J.K. Rowling is at it again. This time, she is speaking out against Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, who portrayed Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in the film adaptations.
On April 10th, Rowling made a series of posts to X (formerly Twitter) about a recent independent review “of the medical evidence for transitioning children.” The author has previously come under fire several times for her anti-trans rhetoric. By contrast, Radcliffe and Watson have always been outspoken in their support of the LGBTQ community. But definitely moreso in the recent years following Rowling’s disappointing stance.
“Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology … safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them …” one of her followers commented. Even though neither performer has ever publicly commented on this particular subject of medically transitioning children. So, we aren’t sure why they would feel the need to apologize in the first place?
“Not safe, I’m afraid,” Rowling responded. “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 sex spaces.”
The alleged ‘erosion’ of women’s rights by transgender women merely existing has been a sticking point for Rowling for some time. In June 2020, she posted an essay stating, “I refuse to bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm in seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it.”
The Reaction
This post launched a tidal wave of criticism from LGBTQ advocates and stars of Rowling’s movies. Watson wrote on X the same day, “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.” “I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are,” she wrote in a follow-up post. While she didn’t name Rowling specifically, it’s obvious why she felt statements like this were necessary.
Radcliffe responded with a short essay for the nonprofit organization the Trevor Project. In the article he makes the factual statement that “transgender women are women.” Clarifying that “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 or I.”
“I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers,” Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, said. “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.”
He later backtracked on this a bit in a series for The Times titled “What I’ve Learnt.” In it, he explains his complex feelings towards “auntie” Rowling. “I don’t necessarily agree with everything my auntie says, but she’s still my auntie. … It’s a tricky one.”
