June 10, 2020

J.K. Rowling posted a tweet captioned “TERF wars” with a link to her website with a lengthy blog post titled “J.K. Rowling writes about her reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues”.

In the 3,600 word essay, Rowling expresses her struggles with abuse, gender dysphoria, sexism, and misogyny, as well as her response to those calling her out for being a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF). It is a term frequently used for transphobic people who claim to be feminists and was heavily aimed towards Rowling after her tweet on June 6. I could go on and on about the misconceptions of transgender people, and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, she makes in her blog post; however, I believe that could be an article in and of itself. I highly recommend anyone interested in this topic to read the entire post and come up with an opinion of their own. In my opinion, there are many aspects of this ridiculously long essay that I just do not agree with- notably, her comments on allowing transgender women and men to use the bathrooms that their gender coincides with. 

She makes it very clear that she believes transgender people need protection by adding that “like women, they’re most likely to be killed by sexual partners.” However, she then goes on to state that “when you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman, then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside.” This statement is transphobic. There is nothing about this statement that screams “I want to protect and care for transgender people”. It perpetuates the notion that transgender women can be a danger to society solely because they are assigned male at birth. This statement invites the idea that transgender women should not be allowed to use a restroom made for women blatantly because they are harmful to cisgender women. Any man could go into a woman’s restroom and attack a woman, to begin with. The doors to women’s restrooms are never locked; there is no barrier that keeps men out. If a man was really going to go attack women in bathrooms, he wouldn’t do it ‘in disguise as a woman’, he would just march on in. It is a disgusting comment that is so obviously rooted in transphobic beliefs, and it only makes Rowling sound like a hypocrite. She wants to protect cisgender women only, and her 3,600-word essay in which she is supposed to be defending herself only paints her out as a woman who could care less about the transgender community. 

Multiple Harry Potter actors and actresses made comments regarding the essay and their stance on her opinion. These include Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Bonnie Wright, and Evanna Lynch. They all shared their disagreement with her statements and their support for the trans community.