Daniel Radcliffe Writes Heartfelt Response to J.K. Rowling's Anti-Trans Tweets: "Transgender Women Are Women"
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling seemed to assert in a controversial tweet that only women could menstruate, facing backlash from critics who accused her of transphobia.
In December 2019, Rowling addressed similar topics around the concept of sex in a series of tweets that were also widely criticized.
Since her statement, actor and Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has released a statement on the website The Trevor Project. "Transgender women are women," he wrote. "Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people."
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's latest comments about trans people have once again elicited a strong critical reaction from LGBTQ advocates. In a series of tweets posted on June 6, Rowling appeared to claim that only women could menstruate and doubled down with anti-trans language when confronted by other social media users. In her post, she shared a link to an article entitled, "Opinion: Creating a More Equal Post-COVID World for People Who Menstruate," with the following commentary: "'People who menstruate. I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
After being confronted, Rowling wrote that she'd "spent much of the last three years reading books, blogs and scientific papers by trans people, medics and gender specialists."
On June 9, actor and Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe wrote a statement on the website The Trevor Project. Actor and Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe posted a statement in response to Rowling's comments. "I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what's important right now," he began.
He continued: "Transgender women are women. 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." Read his full statement here.
One of the most vocal groups to denounce Rowling's tweets was GLAAD, which wrote, "J.K. Rowling continues to align herself with an ideology which willfully distorts facts about gender identity and people who are trans. In 2020, there is no excuse for targeting trans people."
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GLAAD also encouraged people who are frustrated over Rowling's comments to support organizations like the National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition in the United States, U.K. Black Pride, and Gendered Intelligence, a London-based charity with the goal of "[increasing] understandings of gender diversity" that works heavily with the trans community.
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The Harry Potter author continued her assertion of the importance of the concept of sex, a belief that has led many to label her a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist). She balked at the term, equating it to slurs like "Feminazi" and "Bitch."
"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," Rowling wrote. "It isn't hate to speak the truth."
Rowling also claimed that a "self-described butch lesbian" friend of hers called her in support of her comments. She added, "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 a nonsense." Rowling continued, "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."
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The organization I Support the Girls, which distributes bras and menstrual products "to women & folx experiencing homelessness in [the] U.S. and beyond," pointed out that Rowling's post was inaccurate and ignored many different types of people who menstruate.
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This isn't the first time Rowling has been criticized by the trans community and its allies. In December 2019, she tweeted in support of Maya Forstater, a London think tank employee who claimed to have lost her job over her "gender critical" beliefs that she expressed on social media.
"My belief as I set out in my witness statement is that sex is a biological fact and is immutable. There are two sexes. Men are male. Women are female," Forstater wrote. "It is impossible to change sex."
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The broader social media response was mixed but largely critical of Rowling, with many Harry Potter fans expressing disappointment about the beliefs of the author.
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Rowling's comments come just days into the start of Pride Month.
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