2020 has been the year of catastrophic bushfires, a global pandemic and new levels of police brutality and yet, over the weekend, JK Rowling tried to make it even worse with some transphobic Tweets.
The GOAT team dive right into the whole JK Rowling anti-trans debacle on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
In a string of Tweets, JK Rowling has denounced the transgender community by spitting incorrect statements to her millions of followers. It began when the Harry Potter author critiqued a publication over their use of the term “people who menstruate” instead of “women”. She said, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
After receiving some feedback, she continued to incorrectly label the transgender community as a group of people who want to remove the concept of “sex” completely, saying: “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.”
Now, while anti-LGBTQIA+ statements often appear on social media sites, it hits especially hard when the person that it’s coming from is one of your biggest idols, just ask King Princess. In an Instagram post, King Princess openly responded to JK Rowling’s comments, on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community.
King Princess declared “I am not the person you will find calling out people on the internet, but that being said this one is personal.”
King Princess begins her statement by talking about what the Harry Potter books mean to the LGBTQIA+ community. She said, “First of all, I don’t think especially now, that you realize the accidental queer haven you created in your books for so many kids within the LGBT spectrum. Right now you are telling countless trans/femme kids that they basically didn’t deserve to be a part of that Utopia. That you pretty much negate the presence of their identities in this world.”
King Princess continued by discussing JK Rowling’s insertion into the narrative, saying: “And the worst part of all is that you feel attacked? You feel like your womanhood is attacked by a movement towards trans equality? What does this AT ALL have to do with you and your womanhood and why do you feel so angry?”
King Princess then continued to discuss how JK Rowling’s opinion on the transgender community contributes to the upholding of antiquated systematic privilege.
King Princess continued, “Do you see that by talking you are refusing to listen to a group of people are being murdered, beaten, and left unprotected by the law every day. Because I know, and so many others know that you, as a white cisgender woman, have had a lot more years of systematic privilege and power than trans folks. Separating cis women from trans women is exactly what allows this systematic privilege/hierarchy to continue. So please ask yourself why you are talking, why you are disrupting this movement with your confusing words, and why, as a writer, you feel the need to attack a group of people who most likely sustained your business for many years.”
Ultimately, JK Rowling is not only someone with a large platform, but she’s heavily influential on adolescents. With her Harry Potter legacy under her belt, there has and always will be plenty of children and young adults that look for her opinions on things, which make these comments (and all the other times she’s been problematic) particularly difficult to comprehend.
Honestly, JK Rowling, please for everyone’s sake, stop the transphobic Tweets on social media. Even Harry Potter himself has asked you to.
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