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Author JK Rowling has said she doesn’t feel she has been ‘cancelled’ after criticism of her trans views.
The author’s views on gender ideology, expressed in a series of controversial tweets, have sparked significant backlash from the public, as well as criticism from Harry Potter stars such as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.
However, in an interview for Letters from Suzanne, a Substack publication by writer and columnist Suzanne Moore, the author said, “The one time I mentioned getting cancelled, my book sales went up.”
‘Why am I laughing? I can’t believe I’m saying these words. But you have to make fun of them. I do not consider myself cancelled.
Coming as Mrs Rowling Announced she will fund a new women-only service for victims of sexual violence.
Pictured: Beira’s Place Beira’s Place Board of Directors (left to right) Susan Smith, JK Rowling, Johann Lamont, Margaret McCartney and Rhona Hotchkiss
The 57-year-old Harry Potter creator founded and will finance an Edinburgh-based center called Beira’s Place.
Ms Rowling made the announcement days before a controversial gender bill is due to reach the Scottish Parliament.
Nicola Sturgeon’s gender recognition reform bill has been criticized because it is feared that predatory men will exploit it to impersonate women and abuse their rights.
Public backlash against the author’s views began in March 2018, when Ms Rowling came under fire for liking a tweet that referred to trans women as “men in clothes”.
After several major media outlets picked up the story, some took the opportunity to vent their anger online.
In a statement to Newsweek, Ms Rowling’s spokesperson said: “It was a mistake.
“I’m afraid JK Rowling had an awkward, middle-aged moment and this isn’t the first time she’s bookmarked by holding her phone the wrong way!”
JK Rowling has announced that she will fund a new women-only service for victims of sexual violence. The author made the announcement days before a controversial gender bill is due to reach the Scottish Parliament.
A tweet by the author on June 6, 2020, in response to a headline referring to “menstruating people”, drew intense criticism from many members of the general public.
Rowling wrote: ‘”People who menstruate.” I’m sure there used to be a word for such people. Somebody help me. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?
‘@Opinion: Creating a more equitable post-COVID-19 world for menstruating people.’
Some saw this as a direct attack on the trans community.
Many celebrities and trans organizations have also spoken out publicly against the author.
Mr. Radcliffe, 33, responded on the website of The Trevor Project, an organization that provides 24/7 crisis support services to LGBTQ youth.
The actor said: ‘Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all the advice of health professional associations who have far more experience on this issue than Jo or me.”
Pictured: JK Rowling poses upon arrival at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 12, 2017.
On June 10, Ms Rowling posted an essay online about her reasons for speaking out about issues of sex and gender.
The Harry Potter author addressed criticism of her response to an article describing “menstruating people.”
In a lengthy blog, she wrote that her interest in trans issues stemmed from being an abuse survivor and having concerns about single-sex spaces.
In the blog post, Ms Rowling detailed what she said were the five reasons she felt the need to speak up.
These included his interest in ‘both education and safeguarding’ and ‘free speech’.
Explaining her final reason, she wrote: “I have been in the public eye for over 20 years and have never spoken publicly about being a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault.”
“This is not because I am ashamed that such things happened to me, but because it is traumatic to revisit and remember them.”
In an interview for Letters from Suzanne, the author said: “The one time I referenced the cancellation, my book sales went up. Why am I laughing? I can’t believe I’m saying these words. But you have to make fun of them’
The author added: ‘I also feel protective of my daughter from my first marriage. She didn’t want to claim sole ownership of a story that also belongs to her.
“However, a short time ago, I asked him how he would feel if I were publicly honest about that part of my life and he encouraged me to keep going.
“I’m bringing these things up now not in an attempt to build sympathy, but out of solidarity with the many women who have stories like mine, who have been maligned as bigots for having concerns about single-sex spaces.”
Ms Rowling continued: “I believe that most trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable for all the reasons I’ve outlined.
‘Trans people need and deserve protection. Like women, they are more likely to be killed by their sexual partners. Trans women who work in the sex industry, particularly trans women of color, are at particular risk. Like every other survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who have been abused by men.
‘So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I don’t want to make born girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of the bathrooms and locker rooms to any man who believes or feels he is a woman – and, as I said, gender confirmation certificates can now be issued without the need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door. gate. to each and every man who wishes to enter. That is the pure truth.
Pictured: JK Rowling arrives at the UK premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in London on November 13, 2018.
On Twitter that day, Ms Watson, 32, also expressed her support for the trans community.
Ms Watson tweeted: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they are not who they say they are.” I and many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.
Rupert Grint, 34, who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter franchise, also issued a statement in response to Rowling’s essay.
Grint told The Times on June 12, 2020: ‘I strongly support the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers. Trans women are women. Trans men are men.
“We should all have the right to live with love and without judgment.”
In July 2020, the author responded to a post accusing her of liking a tweet that claimed hormone prescriptions were “the new antidepressants.”
She tweeted: “Many, myself included, believe we are seeing a new type of conversion therapy for young people, who are being placed on a lifelong path of medicalization that may result in loss of their fertility and/or function. full sex.”
In August 2020, Ms Rowling returned an award from the human rights organization Robert F. Kennedy after its president, Kerry Kennedy, publicly criticized the author’s comments about members of the trans community.
In December 2021, Rowling made another controversial social media post ahead of the release of the Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore trailer.
The author addressed a report that Scottish police would begin to record rapes by offenders with male genitalia as committed by a woman if the attacker identifies as a woman.
Ms Rowling tweeted: ‘War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. The person with a penis who raped you is a woman.
This caused a backlash from many Twitter users.
Pictured: JK Rowling attends the world premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore at The Royal Festival Hall on March 29, 2022
In September 2020, Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the film series and passed away in October 2022, stood up for Ms Rowling.
Coltrane told the Radio Times: ‘I don’t think what he said was offensive, really. I don’t know why, but there is a whole generation of people on Twitter who are waiting to be offended.
They wouldn’t have won the war, would they? That’s me talking like a grumpy old man, but you just think, Oh, get over it. Get informed, stand up straight and continue.
He continued: “I don’t want to get involved in all that because of all the hate mail and all that shit, which I don’t need in my time in life.”
Helena Bonham Carter, 56, who played Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter films, came to Rowling’s defense in a November 2022 interview with The Sunday Times Magazine.
The actress said: ‘I think she’s been harassed. She has taken herself to the extreme, the judgment of the people. She allows herself her opinion, especially if she has been abused.
“Everyone carries their own story of trauma and forms their opinions out of that trauma, and you have to respect where people come from and their pain. Not everyone has to agree on everything, that would be crazy and boring. He doesn’t say it aggressively, he just says something based on his own experience.