Voldemort actor says the backlash J.K. Rowling received for being transphobic is 'disturbing'
- In a new interview, Ralph Fiennes says he cannot understand the "vitriol" directed at J.K. Rowling.
- "I find this age of accusation and the need to condemn irrational," the actor told the Telegraph.
- Rowling's statements on trans people are unsupported by data, and they perpetuate dangerous myths.
"Harry Potter" star Ralph Fiennes has weighed in on the ongoing conversation around author J.K. Rowling and the debate around her transphobic personal views. In a new profile from UK publication the Telegraph, Fiennes said he can't "understand the vitriol directed at her."
"I can understand the heat of an argument, but I find this age of accusation and the need to condemn irrational," the Lord Voldemort actor said. "I find the level of hatred that people express about views that differ from theirs, and the violence of language towards others, disturbing."
Last year, Rowling's pattern of supporting trans-exclusionary radical feminists came to a head when she published a lengthy essay about her beliefs (many of which were not supported by science) when it came to transgender people.
"Rowling's claims are not only unsupported by data, but perpetuate dangerous myths about trans people that can inhibit their access to life-saving care," Insider's health reporters Anna Medaris Miller Canela López wrote last summer.
Some people responded heatedly to her public posts on social media, and at one point #RIPJKRowling was trending on Twitter.
Last summer, notable philosopher and gender theorist expert Judith Butler spoke with another UK publication, the New Statesman, about the going conversation around Rowling and people's reactions to her statements. When asked what she had to say about "violent or abusive language used online against people like J.K. Rowling," Butler said the following:
"I am against online abuse of all kinds. I confess to being perplexed by the fact that you point out the abuse levelled against J.K. Rowling, but you do not cite the abuse against trans people and their allies that happens online and in person. I disagree with JK Rowling's view on trans people, but I do not think she should suffer harassment and threats. Let us also remember, though, the threats against trans people in places like Brazil, the harassment of trans people in the streets and on the job in places like Poland and Romania - or indeed right here in the US."
In 2021 so far, 28 states have proposed anti-trans bills, which range from "banning trans children from playing on sports teams to prohibiting doctors from giving trans youth life-saving care."
Fiennes isn't the only "Harry Potter" actor who has taken a public stance on Rowling's statements and transgender rights. Days after Rowling's essay was published, Daniel Radcliffe (who played Harry Potter) wrote a letter for the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization aimed at supporting LGBTQ+ youth.
"Transgender women are women," he 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."
Katie Leung (Cho Chang), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), and more all voiced support for trans people in the days following Rowling's letter. Fans of the "Harry Potter" series have also been vocal about their disappointment in the author.
Others, like Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) have made statements similar to Fiennes in recent interviews.
"I don't think what she said was offensive really," Coltrane said during an interview with the Radio Times. "I don't know why, but there's a whole Twitter generation of people who hang around waiting to be offended. They wouldn't have won the war, would they?"