Harry Potter author JK Rowling was amid another online backlash after social media users called her out for a string of anti-trans tweets on Sunday.
It all started when Rowling quote tweeted a piece 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. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" Rowling tweeted suggesting only women menstruated.
‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud? Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate https://t.co/cVpZxG7gaA — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
When people on Twitter immediately called Rowling’s comments “anti-trans” and “transphobic” as transgender people, non-binary people and gender-nonconforming people can also menstruate, Rowling went on to add that sex was "real" and criticised the idea of discarding the idea of sex. "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," she tweeted.
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. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
The Harry Potter author continued her transphobic rant and wrote, "The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women - ie, to male violence - ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences - is a nonsense."
The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women - ie, to male violence - ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences - is a nonsense. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
In a subsequent tweet, Rowling added that she respected every trans person's right to live but added that her life had been "shaped" by being a female. "I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so."
I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
Rowling's anti-trans Twitter rant did not sit well with the LGBTQ activists and persons of the community who slammed the author for being one-dimensional and tone-deaf. Soon, Rowling became the top trend on Twitter on Sunday with people schooling her opinions.
People found it hard to wrap their heads around the fact that the author could not comprehend that she saw sex and gender in a binary view.
"You're a great writer. This is a good time for you to become a great reader," wrote one Twitter user.
I also want to remind everyone that when LGBTQ organizations generously reaches out to @jk_rowling in December to discuss all this in a collaborative setting, she refused to speak with them. — Charlotte Clymer 🏳️🌈 (@cmclymer) June 6, 2020
You’re a smart person. How do you not yet understand the difference between sex and gender? The only way I can possibly explain your ignorance at this point is willfulness. It’s incredibly disappointing. — Brad Walsh (@BradWalsh) June 6, 2020
Imagine creating Voldemort and Slytherin and then years later thinking, “Yeah, they had a good point.” What a disappoint you’ve become. — Tolarian Community College (@TolarianCollege) June 7, 2020
Please talk to some queer people. Please. — Scott Bryan (@scottygb) June 6, 2020
pic.twitter.com/pIkNa8RJHp — Klaes Jensen🇩🇰 #BlackLivesMatter (@KlaesJensen) June 7, 2020
Also, it’s a scientific fact that intersex patients with a 46 XY karyotype, who are by definition genetically male, have gotten pregnant and even given birth. Unfortunately, doctors have erased the existence of many intersex patients through genital mutilation surgeries at birth.— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 6, 2020
You are embarrassing. The world is reckoning with white supremacy and police brutality and you’ve decided to use your massive platform to gender police? (Btw, gender and sex aren’t the same thing. Look it up.)Your books meant so much to me but you are disgraceful. Shame on you.— Shannon Purser (@shannonpurser) June 6, 2020
You're a great writer. This is a good time for you to become a great reader.— Patrick Thornton (@pwthornton) June 6, 2020
GLAAD, an organization for LGBTQ rights, panned her views and wrote that there was no excuse for targeting trans people in 2020.
JK Rowling continues to align herself with an ideology which willfully distorts facts about gender identity and people who are trans. In 2020, there is no excuse for targeting trans people. — GLAAD (@glaad) June 7, 2020
This, however, isn't the first instance of Rowling facing online flak for her views on sex implying that transsexuality isn't real.
Last year in December, a woman in the UK, Maya Forstater, was fired from her job as a tax researcher after she tweeted against the government's Gender Recognition Act, which allowed people to legally change their gender. The woman's tweets were deemed transphobic and she was eventually dismissed.
However, JK Rowling seemed to agree with her and believed that "sex is real"/ Funny, this coming from a woman who made a living out of writing about creatures and events which are not only fictional but also entirely the product of her imagination.
Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 19, 2019