In recent years, J.K. Rowling has slowly swapped her legacy as the author of what is arguably the most famous children’s book series of the last century for a reputation as an unrelenting trans-exclusionary activist for the rights of cis-women.
Rowling’s lengthy clashes with dissenters on X are infamous, with the writer never shying away from replying to as many posts sent her way as possible. Most recently, the 58-year-old shared her opinion, again, about trans women’s right to access female-only spaces, saying that “allowing males into female-only spaces on the basis of their claim to be a women [sic] removes an obstacle that has hitherto been proven to increase women and girls’ safety.”
The discord reached British broadcaster India Willoughby after an unrelated X user employed a clip of Willoughby to ask Rowling whether she should be using men’s locker rooms. The Harry Potter creator, — deliberately, blatantly, and unnecessarily misgendering Willoughby — answered “You’ve sent me the wrong video. There isn’t a lady in this one, just a man reveling in his misogynistic performance of what he thinks ‘woman’ means: narcissistic, shallow and exhibitionist.” A seconds-long GIF, it seems, was all Rowling needed to draw these conclusions.
“Genuinely disgusted by this. Grotesque transphobia, which is upsetting. I am every bit as much a woman as JK Rowling. Recognised [sic] in law, and by everyone I interact with every day. The debate about whether JK Rowling is a transphobe is over,” Willoughby countered.
Who is India Willoughby?
India Willoughby is a British news broadcaster, journalist, and TV personality, as well as an advocate for trans rights in the United Kingdom and the country’s media sector. After starting her career as a PR executive, she became Britain’s first transgender national television news anchor in 2017 on Channel 5’s 5News and gained widespread recognition after appearing as a guest and later a co-host on the popular talk show Loose Women.
Willoughby’s stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 led to a wave of online harassment over her looks and constant misgendering, which she says “really cut deep.” In an interview with This Morning, the journalist confessed to staying in bed for three days and being ultimately influenced to undergo cosmetic surgery to change her appearance.
Now, she’s on the receiving end of abuse again thanks to J.K. Rowling and her followers, resulting in “some of the most vicious and vile messages I’ve ever received,” Willoughby said on X. The Edinburgh-based writer continued to target Willoughby, telling a follower, “India didn’t become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.” This isn’t the first time Willoughby and Rowling have crossed each other.
Rowling misgendered Willoughby a third time in a text reacting to a now-deleted January post by the journalist where she wonders how big a van would need to be to “kidnap” Scottish Member of Parliament Joanna Cherry, who has also been accused of being transphobic in the past, “Mayo Man,” a reference to the Mayo Clinic’s gender policy, and “the witchfinder woman,” presumably meaning Rowling herself. In a reply to Rowling’s post, Cherry revealed she had reported Willoughby’s own to the police.
Both steadfast in their respective stances, J.K. Rowling and India Willoughby will undoubtedly clash again in the future.