Daniel Radcliffe responds to JK Rowling’s “anti-trans” tweets as the #IStandWithJKRowling hashtag trends on Twitter
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has spoken out over author JK Rowling’s comments about transgender people and said he hopes her remarks have not “tarnished or diminished” fans’ experience of her beloved books.
Radcliffe, who became a worldwide star after playing schoolboy wizard Harry in the movie adaptations Rowling’s novels, was responding to a series of tweets Rowling posted over the weekend after which critics accused her of being transphobic.
She took issue with the phrasing of a headline for an opinion article about healthcare equality, titled Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate. “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people,” she tweeted on Saturday. “Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
The tweet sparked a debate, with many criticizing the writer for appearing to define a woman as someone who has a menstrual period, and accused her of making “anti-trans comments” – which she strongly denied as “nonsense”.
Radcliffe waded into the controversy on Monday in a blog post for the LGBT suicide prevention charity, The Trevor Project, writing that while Rowling “is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken… as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment.”
He said this was not about “in-fighting between JK Rowling and myself”, adding that “Transgender women are women.”
“Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people,” the actor said, “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.”
The 30-year-old then cited statistics from The Trevor Project, claiming 78% of transgender and non-binary youth reported being the subject of discrimination due to their gender identity. He said: “It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and non-binary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.”
Radcliffe also addressed fans on social media who said they could no longer enjoy the Harry Potter series due to their disagreement with Rowling. “To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you,” he said. “I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you. If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, non-binary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life – then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred.
“And in my opinion, nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.”
Radcliffe’s post came in a period when the furor over Rowling’s tweets had reached fever-pitch, with as much people taking the side of the author, as there are those slamming her for her opinion. This row gave rise to the hashtag #IStandWithJKRowling on Twitter, with those who support the author also taking Daniel Radcliffe to task over his writeup.
Here are some of the tweets of those who stand with JK Rowling:
And here are some of the tweets of those who stand against JK Rowling:
About author
You might also like
“I’d defend gay rights ‘to the death’.” – Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch has said he would fight religious extremists to the death in defence of the right to express one’s sexuality. Cumberbatch, who stars in The Imitation Game as Alan
“You Are a Gift to the World.” Tim Cook to LGBT Youth
Tim Cook delivered a heartfelt message at LoveLoud, a music festival helmed by Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds that benefits LGBT youth. “I stand before you tonight as an uncle,
Nigeria Tops The List Of The Most Dangerous Countries For LGBTQ People
A new study produced by travel website, Asher & Lyric, has created the LGBTQ Danger Index; a ranking of the 150 countries with the most international tourists based on their
11 Comments
Francis
June 10, 06:39Honestly sometimes it feels like we are doing too much. Why not just call them women? Which one is people who menstruate? Would it have killed the author’s word count to make it women and trans-men who menstruate? ??♂️??♂️
Pjay
June 11, 05:38Well we could but that would be excluding gender fluid persons who menstruate. ??♂️
Francis
June 11, 07:24??♂️??♂️ I see your point. Too many group of people menstruating to be listed. Thanks.
Mandy
June 10, 07:08There is something that has become very vile and evil about the trans movement. My goodness. These people threatening death to TERFs (a term which I do not subscribe to) are also out here expecting love and light from the world? Like, seriously? I’m glad JK Rowling is the voice that’s rising against them. She’s a woman and she’s rich and she’s powerful and she’s white: all her privileges work well to make her the right voice to come against this cult-like tyranny.
And as for Daniel Radcliffe… lol. It’s funny how a debate about trans men and women devolved, in his post, to being about trans women being women. It somehow keeps coming back to the patriarchy, doesn’t it?
Mandy
June 10, 07:10And on a lighter note, that image up there shows JK Rowling leaning slightly away from Daniel. lol. Almost as if, even then, she knew the actor would betray her like this. ??
Olutayo
June 10, 07:12So it’s safe to say that JK Rowling will never be working with Daniel Radcliffe ever again. Dude is talmabout how there’s no “in-fighting between JK Rowling and myself” and calling her “Jo” with affection. lol. I can imagine JK rolling her eyes like: Not today, Satan.
Higwe
June 10, 08:04The cancel culture has become too commonplace and toxic ,that no one takes it seriously anymore .
Just within the last few weeks , Doja cat and Lana were cancelled.
Naomi Campbell was cancelled because of some tweets from some anonymous .
Terry Crews has been cancelled .
When does it even end ? ??♂️
Anyone with a disparate world view gets cancelled no matter how dulcet and nonmaliciously they lay out their points .
The most whimsical and ironical thing is that we claim this is the age of liberalism , but I’ve never seen an era where people were more caged .
The emperor is walking around naked yet again but unfortunately even the little brave boy can’t call him out anymore , he has been binded with political correctness.
That said , I don’t agree with JK Rowling …but I do respect her right to have her own opinion .
You’d think my fellow “liberals ” would as well ??♂️
Ifechukwu
June 10, 13:04But Trans Women are not Women.
And we should stop denying reality. It’s not hateful to say so. Truth is it hateful.
Warner Bros Responds To JK Rowling Comments | Author Defends Her Views By Revealing She’s A “Domestic Abuse And Sexual Assault Survivor “ – KitoDiaries
June 11, 09:40[…] remarks drew criticism from GLAAD, Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson and Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne, who defended trans identity and trans […]
blackembeyeah
June 11, 20:00Transvestites in the West have become bullies. Many of their demands are trivial. And now you have this “CIS” label which is also silly akin to putting the adjective “wet” in front of water. There are men. There are women and a fraction of a fraction born with mixed genitalia
A person born a male is not and will never be a woman. Don’t like it, go pick a fight with God. On this matter Rowling is correct–logically and scientifically. Science isn’t transphobic. It’s simply fact.
“It Isn’t Hateful For Women To Speak About Their Own Experiences.” JK Rowling maintains her stance as transphobia row rages on – KitoDiaries
June 30, 08:41[…] Evanna Lynch, and Emma Watson, and Eddie Redmayne, who leads the cast of Fantastic Beasts, have voiced their opposition to Rowling’s […]