J.K Rowling, who is responsible for giving us a world of wizards and fantasy land full of magicians, recently landed in controversy over the weekend when she was declared as Transphobic by Twitterati.
Rowling drew criticism when she tweeted about a news story covering healthcare inequality titled, “Creating a More Equal Post-COVID-19 World for People Who Menstruate.”
J.K’s controversial tweet said, “People who menstruate. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
She went on to explain and clarify her stance but it didn’t satisfy her followers. She wrote, “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.”
Recently, Daniel Radcliffe who rose to fame by playing the school-boy wizard of the famous franchise by J.K Rowling took upon himself to stand behind transgender community and expressed his disagreement with the author. Addressing the controversy in an open letter for The Trevor Project, he stated simply, “transgender women are women.”
In the same letter he expressed that he never wants to be in a tiff with the author and his disagreement would be taken as a fight between the two. He said, “I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now. While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment.”
Harry Potter himself apologized for ruining the experience for the fans and urged them to not let J. K’s comment affect their love for the series. Addressing directly to the fans, he said, “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.”