Acclaimed Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has yet to escape being under fire by fans and the LGBTQ community alike, seeing as she has yet to address her long-running anti-trans controversial tweet. While the cast of the Harry Potter films have already expressed their qualms on the issue, Rowling has finally said her piece in an attempt to clarify her ‘misread’ tweet.
“What has interested me in recent years, particularly on social media [is when fans say], ‘You’ve ruined your legacy. Oh, you could have been beloved forever, but you chose to say this.’” Rowling said in a recent interview with Variety, “And I think: ‘You could not have misunderstood me more profoundly.’ I never set out to upset anyone. However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal.”
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The controversy started back in June 2020 when the author tweeted a criticism on an opinion piece indicating that “people who menstruate” was used instead of “women”.
Upon her response, the backlash went towards her statement, in which Rowling felt obliged to explain herself by adding: “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
Unfortunately, the more she claimed to have ‘respect’ towards the trans community, the more outraged her fans became. This led some of the most prominent cast members to respond bluntly, against the author’s claims, and one of the main responders happened to be Daniel Radcliffe himself, stating that “Trans women are women.”
It seems that the author refuses to look upon herself in how the Harry Potter community responded to her tweet, seeing as she is “not uncomfortable getting off her pedestal” amidst the backlash she faced, which indicates holding no accountability and apology towards the fans she offended.
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