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Harry Potter Creator J.K. Rowling Under Fire For Anti-Trans Views

The Harry Potter franchise is beloved, but creator J.K. Rowling has frequently been the subject of heavy criticism over the last few years for various reasons. The side-stepping of Dumbledore's sexuality in the Fantastic Beasts films, for example, or the troubling depiction of a rare Asian character in the Wizarding World in the same movie series. The latest furore is particularly disheartening for fans though, as Rowling has shown her support for anti-trans views.

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The Harry Potter franchise is beloved, but creator J.K. Rowling has frequently been the subject of heavy criticism over the last few years for various reasons. The side-stepping of Dumbledore’s sexuality in the Fantastic Beasts films, for example, or the troubling depiction of a rare Asian character in the Wizarding World in the same movie series. The latest furore is particularly disheartening for fans though, as Rowling has shown her support for anti-trans views.

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Today, the author responded to the firing of policy researcher Maya Forstater from her job at the Centre for Global Development due to her sharing transphobic comments on Twitter. One tweet, for instance, read “men cannot change into women.” Rowling made clear that she’s firmly in defence of Forstater, using the #IStandWithMaya hashtag and posting a message that many have seen as offensive and dismissive of the trans community.

Here’s Rowling’s original tweet:

Though the above tweet has accrued over 13k retweets, the replies below it are full of fans either disappointed or driven to fury over Rowling’s support of such hateful views. In fact, some demonstrated their frustration with GIFS or memes, as seen below:

https://twitter.com/TheSocietyDude/status/1207669598692052992

 

Others attempted to point out to Rowling the scientific ignorance that often fuels transphobia,

This isn’t the first time Rowling has been accused of transphobia, with a previous scandal erupting when the writer was found to have liked anti-trans tweets. This has led to Rowling being described as a TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist).

For trans people who grew up loving the Harry Potter books, Rowling’s support of Forstater feels like a very personal betrayal.

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After penning the scripts for the first two Fantastic Beasts films, J.K. Rowling will co-scribe the third with Steve Kloves, who wrote the adapted screenplays for the Harry Potter movies. Fantastic Beasts 3 is due to be set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and will hit theaters in November 2021.

Tell us, though, what do you make of Rowling’s latest comments? Do you agree with what folks are saying on Twitter? Sound off below with your thoughts.