“It Isn’t Hateful For Women To Speak About Their Own Experiences.” JK Rowling maintains her stance as transphobia row rages on
Harry Potter author, JK Rowling’s views on transgender issues have caused widespread debate over the past month. She has been accused of transphobia after saying that only women menstruate, and later, in a blog post, for saying she is deeply protective of women-only spaces as a result of being sexually assaulted.
Following this, UK Labour frontbencher Lloyd Russell-Moyle accused her of using her sexual assault as “justification” for discriminating against trans people.
UK Labour MP, Lloyd Russell-Moyle
However, the shadow environment minister has made a public apology to Rowling after he wrote the piece in the Tribune saying he felt she had used her past experience to pass comment on a group of people who were not responsible for it.
Rowling said in response: “I accept [Lloyd Russell-Moyle’s] apology in the hope that he’ll dig a little deeper than hashtags and slogans. He might then understand why increasing numbers of people are deeply concerned about UK Labour’s position on women’s rights.”
In his apology tweeted on Sunday morning, Russell-Moyle said: “Whilst I may disagree with some of her analysis on trans rights, it was wrong of me to suggest that she used her own dreadful experience in anything other than good faith.” He said her disclosure was heartfelt and must have been hard to do.
JK Rowling also shared a quote from the late feminist and writer Andrea Dworkin about how men treat women’s opinions as if they are “acts of violence”, in a post that must have resonated with fellow author, Stephen King, who retweeted it on his own feed.
In response, Rowling tweeted that her love for King had reached “new heights”.
She added: “It’s so much easier for men to ignore women’s concerns, or to belittle them, but I won’t ever forget the men who stood up when they didn’t need to. Thank you, Stephen.”
However, after being pressed by a fan on where he stood on transgender issues, King tweeted: “Trans women are women.”
While his clarification appeased some fans, it appeared to have irked Rowling, who has since deleted her tweet praising King. Some social media users have also speculated that she unfollowed him on Twitter.
Last week, a number of writers at Rowling’s agency, The Blair Partnership, resigned in protest over her views after claiming that the company refused to publish a statement in support of transgender rights. Several stars of the Harry Potter franchise, including Daniel Radcliffe, Evanna Lynch, and Emma Watson, and Eddie Redmayne, who leads the cast of Fantastic Beasts, have voiced their opposition to Rowling’s comments.
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6 Comments
Mitch
June 30, 13:52…JK Rowling also shared a quote from the late feminist and writer Andrea Dworkin about how men treat women’s opinions as if they are “acts of violence”…
GBAM!!!!!!!
This is one of the things I pick on over this trans topic. Women speak about their realities and their words are taken as acts of violence and they are bullied, made to shut up, their lives and means of livelihood and security are threatened by this overwhelmingly idiotic cancel culture and the trans machine.
Maka chukwu, I’m glad JK is speaking up. I’m glad she’s fighting. The trans machine has shut far too many women up: Chimamanda Adichie, Maya Forstater, Martina Navratilova…among others.
It’s too much!
It’s insidious!
And it fucking needs to stop!
Bleh
June 30, 15:19She’s also shown support for conversion therapy which affects everyone in the LGBT community but yeah let her speak her truth
Mandy
June 30, 16:37What sort of maniacal lie is this? How did she show this support? Because of her pen name “Robert Galbraith” that everyone is now saying is the same as Robert Galbraith Heath who championed conversion therapy? Because she liked a tweet whose context doesn’t even serve as cast iron proof of where she stands on the issue?
You guys are sha determined to hate this woman. For me, she has done too much good in this world and speaks too much truth in what she stands for for me to simply cast her aside based on these reaches.
Queen of Queens
June 30, 17:46Can someone explain why this topic is so controversial? Cause some of us for now see it through the lenses of “everyone has his/her own opinion.”
Rudy
July 03, 00:28Transgenderism is a far cry from Cross dressing that’s if madam Rowlings need anymore education on that, for her to be growling over female bathrooms and the acknowledgement of transgender women to use them too.
As a world-acclaimed writer, you’d think JK would know better.
By stating “only women menstruate” she emphasised the wrong notion of transgender women being anything other than their true selves or genders.
In the medical field there are cases where women are born without a uterus/womb, is JK saying these women are also not qualified to be women? All because they will not be able to menstruate?
The journey of trans women and cis women are parallel yet equidistant.
The definition for gender encompasses both cultural and social differences rather than biological ones.
No one is preventing you from expressing your views of feminism or womanhood but whilst you’re at it do not tear others down.
LemonSix
July 08, 20:46Please, don’t erase my sex with your gender.
As far as sex is concerned, transwomen are men. Transmen are women.
Transsexuals are a diversity within their own biological sex.