- J.K. Rowling seemed like a force for progressive good after her "
Harry Potter " books taught children about the power of love and friendship. - But for the last few years, her reputation has been marred by controversies surrounding her opinions on
trans people. - This came to a head on June 6, when she posted a series of tweets arguing that: "If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased."
- While trans activists and celebrities including "Harry Potter" stars
Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson spoke out against her transphobic rhetoric, Rowling doubled down with a June 10 essay defending her opinions. - The essay was deemed "transphobic" by many, but it's just the latest in a line of incidents that show Rowling's reality isn't as magical as the one she created in her Wizarding World.
- The "Harry Potter" series has long been criticized for its lack of representation, made worse by Rowling's outing of Dumbledore without an apparent willingness to show his queerness in the works themselves.
- Insider spoke to trans activists Blossom C. Brown and Schuyler Bailar, LGBTQ fantasy writer Alex London, and Pink News web editor Ryan Butcher about the impact Rowling's words could have not only on the trans people she is targeting, but on all "Potter" fans.
J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" went from the boy who lived in the cupboard under the stairs to an entire Wizarding World that has transcended the eight movies and seven books into a full-blown, interconnected empire.
Theme parks, websites, additional books, an entire spin-off film series, studio tours, experiences, and endless merchandise have become as synonymous with the Potter name as the initial series of novels.
But behind the money, human goodness always seemed to be hiding at the heart of Potter, and of Rowling's work.
Rowling herself lost her billionaire status almost immediately after giving away much of her wealth to charities while also founding the non-governmental charity Lumos, which "promotes an end to the institutionalisation of children worldwide."
Not only were the Potter books some of the most entertaining stories ever written, uniting adult and child readers alike, but they got young people into reading more than ever before. Through her characters and stories, Rowling taught children about the power of friendship, courage, and the fact that love triumphs all.
On the surface, Rowling herself seemed to be a positive force of progressive change, too.
She wholeheartedly supported the casting of a black actress for the role of Hermione in the "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" theater production, even when there was a vitriolic backlash against the decision.
"Hermione can be a black woman with my absolute blessing and enthusiasm," she said.
However, the last few years have caused Rowling fans to step back and analyze who the author really is and what she stands for, particularly due to her problematic messages concerning her views on trans people.
In her most recent controversy, Rowling took issue with an article that used the phrase "people who menstruate," resulting in a thread of tweets where she argued that, "If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased."
As a member of the LGBTQ community myself, her comments were upsetting to read — but the problems started long ago, and they started with Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore is gay everywhere but in the books and the movies
Rowling's unveiling of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore as a gay man was a revelation. How great to have a prominent, beloved character who is gay in a major franchise, I initially thought.
But then I realized the truth — he isn't really gay.
The headmaster's sexuality isn't mentioned once in the series of books, which were all written and published well before Rowling outed Dumbledore. It isn't even vaguely referred to.
Sure, he had a close friendship with Gellert Grindlewald, but that was always just a friendship in the books. There was zero queerness in Dumbledore on the page, or in any other character for that matter.
Prominent fantasy author Alex London, who is gay himself, features leading LGBTQ characters in his fantasy novels.
"As far as I'm concerned, if it's not on the page, she was writing fan-fiction for herself," London told Insider.
"If, at the height of her power, she couldn't find the courage to imagine a world without homophobia and transphobia, it was an indictment of her bravery and imagination."
London, the writer of "Black Wings Beating," said the lack of queer presence in fantasy books could have a profound impact on society. When he was a child himself, he said he searched for LGBTQ works in the fantasy genre, but could find none.
"It sends a message to kids, and I think Rowling sends a message to kids by not including it on the page: there's no place for you here," he said. "There's no place on the page, there's no place on the library shelves. That message is heard.
"Kids pay attention to what adults do and say and what adults don't do and say. Queer kids see that they don't get to be part of the story, that they aren't worthy of heroism. And then their straight peers also see that, and it sends a message to them that says: 'something is wrong with these people.'"
Of Rowling, London said: "You can imagine a world with time turners and polyjuice potion, but you can't imagine a world with happy, heroic queer people? It's absurd."
"Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of Grindlewald," however, promised a change. A young Dumbledore, played by "The Talented Mr. Ripley" actor Jude Law no less, offered the possibility of the character owning his sexuality and finally putting Rowling's comments into tangible action.
But Rowling, who wrote the movie, blew it.
A bleary flashback to an even younger Dumbledore and Grindlewald showed the two boys sort of briefly holding hands in a blood pact. But that was it.
If you hadn't heard Rowling claim Dumbledore was gay, you would assume it was two friends, not two boys in love. So much for that "intense sexual relationship" she claimed the pair had.
It's important to note that there are still three "Fantastic Beasts" movies left to be released, all of which will feature Dumbledore and Grindlewald. But after seven books and 10 movies, Rowling's promise of Dumbledore being gay just rings false. He is basically straight.
As London puts it: "She's wanting credit for doing something that she didn't actually do."
Through her inaction, she has turned Dumbledore's sexuality from a potentially game-changing revelation to a throw-away did-you-know tweet, reducing the entire thing to a big joke.
Representatives for Rowling did not immediately respond when contacted about this article.
From a 'middle-aged moment' to '#IStandWithMaya'
As Rowling puts it herself in her most recent statement explaining why she chose to speak out about sex and gender, her "interest in trans issues" (even this phrasing is potentially problematic, making something that people spend their life dedicated to sound like a casual hobby) came when she began research for a book about a fictional female detective.
In the statement, Rowling said she "absent-mindedly" liked a tweet in 2018 that referred to trans women as "men in dresses," and Rowling's reps at the time explained it away as a "middle-aged moment." An accident.
What couldn't be explained away so easily was Rowling's next Twitter show of support for another person associated with transphobic views: Maya Forstater.
Forstater is a tax expert who was fired in 2019 for making comments that were deemed transphobic. In 2018, Forstater had tweeted that "men cannot change into women."
—Maya Forstater (@MForstater) September 30, 2018
When Forstater was fired, instead of just liking the tweet, Rowling posted one herself:
—J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 19, 2019
The outrage that followed was not just because of this tweet, but because of Rowling's continued history of sending out these sorts of messages. In 2017, Rowling had liked another tweet that promoted a Medium article that was also criticized for being transphobic.
In response to the 2019 controversy, Charlotte Clymer, Human Rights Campaign employee and LGBTQ activist and writer, tweeted: "With J.K. Rowling's defense of horrible transphobia, there are folks claiming trans people aren't valid and citing "science"... except medical and other scientific experts disagree with that completely. Here's a helpful list of what the experts think about trans folks. (thread)."
—Charlotte Clymer ️ (@cmclymer) December 19, 2019
The thread detailed scientific experts and organizations recognizing transgender people as valid in the sex with which they identify. The thread also argued that science doesn't support a biological sex binary.
At the time, Rowling and her representatives declined to comment.
'People who menstruate' sparked a sarcastic response from Rowling
Rowling says she then took a step back from Twitter for her own mental health, but after returning to promote a children's book during the coronavirus pandemic, it wasn't long before controversy arose once more, with Twitter taking centre stage yet again.
On June 6, Rowling shared an article that used the phrase: "People who menstruate," accompanied by a tweet that read: "I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
—J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
The tweet was laced with sarcasm, and, as expected, was met with criticism. Trans activists and most members of the LGBTQ community called the tweet transphobic, and labelled the message she was sending out as one that a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) would participate in.
Schuyler Bailar, who is a trans activist and the first openly transgender NCAA Division I swimmer, told Insider: "Most women do menstruate and most people who menstruate are women, but that doesn't mean all. The complexity behind biological diversity is completely ignored by her statements.
"The incorrect nature of her tweets is saying that trans people don't exist, that trans people aren't valid."
Instead of listening to what was being said, Rowling doubled down on her stance with a volley of tweets defending her opinions, saying her lesbian friend loved what she said, saying she has researched trans issues, and shrugging off accusations of being a TERF.
Bailar said: "The really emotionally manipulative part of her statement is saying, 'I love and support trans people' and 'I'd march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans.' There are so many things wrong with that statement, the first being that people are marginalized by the fact that they're trans."
Indeed, a 2017 Stonewall report found that 12% of trans employees suffered physical attacks and 51% of trans people were forced to hide their identity at their workplace for fear of discrimination.
It is undeniable that trans people are discriminated against for being trans.
Bailar also took issue with Rowling's phrase: "If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased."
The trans activist told Insider: "That's just not true. Women's experiences as women are based on gender, and based on people's perceptions of gender and the misogyny and sexism that comes with that."
"Nobody is telling you your experience as a woman is any less," Bailar added. "Nobody is telling you that you are not discriminated because you are a woman. It doesn't mean that it diminishes her experience of her womanhood as something that had been difficult. Trans people do not threaten that. Trans people just say, 'hey, we also get discriminated against.'"
Schuyler said that Rowling seems to be participating in "this kind of oppression Olympics that is about seeing whose oppression is worse," which he called "toxic."
Daniel Radcliffe's response was damning
It took a while for Rowling to react to all of this, with some of her own "Harry Potter" stars speaking out before she did, including Emma Watson and Bonnie Wright.
Most damning, however, was Daniel Radcliffe's response, in which he flat-out disagreed with Rowling in what appeared to be a condemnation of the author's words. It didn't look good for Rowling that Harry Potter himself boldly took such a firm stance against her.
—The Trevor Project (@TrevorProject) June 9, 2020
"Transgender women are women," Radcliffe wrote. "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."
Part of Radcliffe's response was an impassioned plea to Potter fans to hold on to their love for the Potter stories. Radcliffe wrote that he hopes that "you don't entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you."
Radcliffe seems to understand what is potentially at stake here, and what is already happening.
"Harry Potter" has already been ruined for some former fans who have even gone to the lengths of crossing out J.K. Rowling's name on the books.
While "Harry Potter" is simply too gargantuan for its legacy to ever be truly tarnished by this controversy, the series is permanently stained for some.
London knows how this feels. When he was a child, he read "Ender's Game" as a queer novel (although it was heteronormative), and was devastated to learn of author Orson Scott Card's vicious homophobia afterwards.
"It broke my heart," he said.
"I can only imagine how heartbreaking it is now for 'Harry Potter' fans, especially for trans 'Harry Potter' fans and non-binary fans," London said.
Crucially, Radcliffe also openly said he was not as educated on the subject as others are — and pointed out that Rowling wasn't either. He showed a willingness to learn.
Rowling's statements didn't come along with that same openness. Instead, she appeared to suggest she had done enough research for her knowledge about trans issues and trans lives to be on par with the knowledge of experts and trans people themselves.
Still, Radcliffe's comments, while admirable, bring along an issue of their own, according to actress and trans activist Blossom C. Brown.
Brown told Insider: "I will never knock down an accomplice. But we do not need a white cis man to be the voice of transgender women. I think it's powerful and so great that he has come out on our side to defend us, but I also think he has a bigger responsibility to amplify transgender voices first, and to not be the voice or let the media make him the voice."
She added: "He is welcome to the barbecue, though! If he's ever in America and he wants to stop by, come to the barbecue baby, he's so welcome."
Rowling's statement didn't put out the fire, it covered it in gasoline
On June 10, Rowling tweeted a link to a much longer statement in which she discussed her issues with the
The statement itself was a huge move. She had clearly put a lot of thought into it and, if it were something noble she was fighting for, you'd admire how she strongly she's standing her ground.
It was horrible, of course, to read about her abusive first marriage, and sad to hear about the experiences that led her to the opinions she has today.
What will garner her absolutely zero sympathy, however, is her wild statement that there's been an "explosion" of young women transitioning and de-transitioning. This is false, as Insider's Anna Miller and Canela Lopez reported.
An analysis on "Detransition rates in a national UK Gender Identity Clinic" shows that less than 1% of 3,398 trans people said they'd experienced transitioned-related regret, or had detransitioned.
Psychologist Polly Carmichael, who heads up The Tavistock and Portman mental health clinic's gender identity service, told NBC that the large increase in patients who need gender-affirming care is likely down to the societal increase in visibility for trans services and gender variance rather than a "trend," which is what Rowling suggested in her writing.
Rowling's claim that being a trans boy or man is now more common than being a trans girl or woman is also not accurate. A 2019, a UK government survey found 3.5% of the population were trans women, and while 2.9% were trans men. There isn't any indication of the disproportion that Rowling suggests.
Rowling, despite her insistence, is clearly not educated enough on this issue, according to Brown.
"I don't think she is educated. I think there are a lot of isms within her that doesn't want her to be educated. If she's on that level of knowledge or what she thinks is knowledge, she's not willing to learn," Brown said.
"Some people just don't want to learn it. She's really not a feminist. If you don't include trans women in feminism, it's not real feminism."
Rowling's statement hasn't done what she intended it to do — or has it?
The majority of reporting on the lengthy response features headlines like: "J.K. Rowling defends anti-trans tweets with an anti-trans essay." A PR nightmare.
Even Rowling's tweet caption when she shared her statement seemed inflammatory and tone-deaf — "TERF wars" — as if she was trying to goad people already.
—J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 10, 2020
Rowling has now positioned herself as the TERF. She's embracing the identity, and Brown thinks she's almost enjoying it, regardless of how much hurt she has caused.
"I think she is very comfortable with staying in this low vibrational energy that she feels very intimidated, she feels like we are a threat," Brown said.
In hindsight, then, Rowling's reluctance to show Dumbledore's queerness is made insidious by her transphobic statements. Instead of frustrating, it's now concerning.
As London puts it: "She is using that fake allyship with cis gays as a cudgel against trans members of the LGBTQ community. And trans people are a part of our community, and you don't get to claim support while seeking to do them harm. An attack on the trans community is an attack on all of us."
Not only is Rowling not being an ally, she is actively presenting herself as the very opposite of an ally — a detractor of the LGBTQ community. In
It's no coincidence that all of the LGBTQ people I spoke to about this issue were not fans of the Potter series to begin with.
As Pink News Web Editor Ryan Butcher explained, "It felt exclusionary. You've been told your entire life that you have to be this way, that you can't be a gay man, you have to be heterosexual, you have to grow up, get married, and you have to have kids. It felt like 'Harry Potter' was reinforcing that ideal, but in a fantasy world."
London agreed that the Dumbledore issue was indicative of a darker attitude, one which Brown thinks Rowling has now displayed — but perhaps not to its full extent.
"I think there are other isms that she is guilty of that we have just not seen yet," Brown said. "It's very interesting that while the world is talking about Black Lives Matter, she sits up there and attacks trans people. She is coming for me, a black trans woman."
'My existence does not have to be explained to somebody like J.K. Rowling'
Brown said that while trans people are understandably upset, she highlights that: "When somebody brings this much attention to us, we're doing something right. We're not doing something wrong.
"You have every right to be mad, to be angry. You should be able to express that. But also just know that you have trans leaders, you have people that are paving the way for you, that will protect you, that will love you, and that will make sure justice is served," Brown said.
"Look to others for inspiration. We can use the abundance that's around us to really grow and continue to thrive and push forward."
Brown, who says she is working "every day" for trans people, wants those who are hurt to know that there is nothing wrong with them — this is Rowling's issue, she says.
"If you have a problem with us, that's not on us, that's something that you feel jaded about. That's something you're going to have to work on your inner self," she said.
The message Brown is giving is simple: "I am very proud trans woman and my existence does not have to be explained to somebody like J.K. Rowling."
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