JK Rowling breaks silence on ‘anti-trans’ comments

JK Rowling has broken her silence on her controversial comments about the transgender community, and reveals she is a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor.

The Harry Potter author was accused of being transphobic following her tweets about trans women, prompting the likes of Daniel Radcliffe and Eddie Redmayne to speak out in support of the community. 

In a lengthy essay shared on her website, Rowling insists she isn’t a TERF – Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist – but doubles down on her previous comments. 

‘I’ve met trans people, and read sundry books, blogs and articles by trans people, gender specialists, intersex people, psychologists, safeguarding experts, social workers and doctors, and followed the discourse online and in traditional media,’ she wrote. 

Rowling went on to cite her public support of Maya Forstater, a tax specialist who’d lost her job for what were deemed ‘transphobic’ tweets. 

‘Immediately, activists who clearly believe themselves to be good, kind and progressive people swarmed back into my timeline, assuming a right to police my speech, accuse me of hatred, call me misogynistic slurs and, above all – as every woman involved in this debate will know – TERF,’ she explained. 

‘… But accusations of TERFery have been sufficient to intimidate many people, institutions and organisations I once admired, who’re cowering before the tactics of the playground. “They’ll call us transphobic!” “They’ll say I hate trans people!” What next, they’ll say you’ve got fleas? Speaking as a biological woman, a lot of people in positions of power really need to grow a pair (which is doubtless literally possible, according to the kind of people who argue that clownfish prove humans aren’t a dimorphic species).’

Rowling’s letter comes just hours after Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them actor Eddie Redmayne denounced her comments, echoing Daniel Radcliffe’s earlier statement that ‘trans women are women’.

Talk show host Jonathan Ross initially defended Rowling but later had a change of heart after talking to his daughters who spoke out against the author.

In her original tweet, Rowling said: ‘”People who menstruate”. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’ in response to an article.

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