Taking a stand. J.Okay. Rowling‘s controversial transphobic remarks have left each Harry Potter‘s followers and forged members feeling conflicted.
The writer first got here below hearth in June 2020, when she shared a number of posts on Twitter that appeared to slam the trans group. “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased,” Rowling wrote on the time, arguing that she had researched the subject for meany years earlier than sharing her opinion. “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.”
Her posts earned quite a lot of backlash from social media customers, a lot of whom accused Rowling of being a “TERF,” which stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The author, nevertheless, defended her stance in a prolonged essay in June 2020.
“Accusations of TERFery have been sufficient to intimidate many people, institutions and organisations I once admired, who’re cowering before the tactics of the playground,” she claimed on the time. “Speaking as a biological woman, a lot of people in positions of power really need to grow a pair (which is doubtless literally possible, according to the kind of people who argue that clownfish prove humans aren’t a dimorphic species).”
As the controversy continued, a number of members of the Harry Potter universe together with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, appeared to distance themselves from Rowling. “I firmly stand with the trans community,” Grint stated in a press release to Us Weekly in June 2020. “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.”
While most of the franchise’s stars opened disagreed with the producer, others have maintained that they nonetheless respect Rowling and her impression on their careers. Jason Isaacs, for his half, opened up about his “complicated” emotions concerning the Casual Vacancy writer in a January 2022 interview with The Telegraph.
“There’s a bunch of stuff about Jo. You know, I play complicated people, I’m interested in complicated people,” the actor, who portrayed Lucius Malfoy all through the sequence, stated on the time. “I don’t want to get drawn into the trans issues, talking about them, because it’s such an extraordinary minefield. She has her opinions, I have mine. They differ in many different areas.”
Despite their opposing factors of view, Isaacs needed to acknowledge all the “good” Rowling has carried out through the years by the Harry Potter sequence and her charity work. “One of the things that people should know about her too — not as a counter-argument — is that she has poured an enormous amount of her fortune into making the world a much better place, for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children, through her charity Lumos,” he defined, including that his former costars have volunteered with Lumos and “seen on the ground the work that they do.”
The philanthropist, nevertheless, has continued to double down on her opinions. Rowling reacted to a report by The Sunday Times alleging that Scottish police will “record rapes by offenders with male genitalia as being committed by a woman if the attacker ‘identifies as a female,’” in December 2021. “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman,” the screenwriter wrote on Twitter.
Amid all of her controversies, Rowling didn’t participate in HBO’s latest Harry Potter twentieth Anniversary reunion particular however was as an alternative featured in archival footage shot in 2019.
Keep scrolling to see what different Hogwarts alums have stated about Rowling through the years.
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What the ‘Harry Potter’ Cast Has Said About Where They Stand With J.Okay. Rowling Amid Controversy
Taking a stand. J.Okay. Rowling‘s controversial transphobic remarks have left each Harry Potter‘s followers and forged members feeling conflicted.
The writer first got here below hearth in June 2020, when she shared a number of posts on Twitter that appeared to slam the trans group. “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased,” Rowling wrote on the time, arguing that she had researched the subject for meany years earlier than sharing her opinion. “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.”
Her posts earned quite a lot of backlash from social media customers, a lot of whom accused Rowling of being a “TERF,” which stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The author, nevertheless, defended her stance in a prolonged essay in June 2020.
“Accusations of TERFery have been sufficient to intimidate many people, institutions and organisations I once admired, who’re cowering before the tactics of the playground,” she claimed on the time. “Speaking as a biological woman, a lot of people in positions of power really need to grow a pair (which is doubtless literally possible, according to the kind of people who argue that clownfish prove humans aren’t a dimorphic species).”
As the controversy continued, a number of members of the Harry Potter universe together with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, appeared to distance themselves from Rowling. “I firmly stand with the trans community,” Grint stated in a press release to Us Weekly in June 2020. “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.”
While most of the franchise’s stars opened disagreed with the producer, others have maintained that they nonetheless respect Rowling and her impression on their careers. Jason Isaacs, for his half, opened up about his “complicated” emotions concerning the Casual Vacancy writer in a January 2022 interview with The Telegraph.
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“There’s a bunch of stuff about Jo. You know, I play complicated people, I’m interested in complicated people,” the actor, who portrayed Lucius Malfoy all through the sequence, stated on the time. “I don’t want to get drawn into the trans issues, talking about them, because it’s such an extraordinary minefield. She has her opinions, I have mine. They differ in many different areas.”
Despite their opposing factors of view, Isaacs needed to acknowledge all the “good” Rowling has carried out through the years by the Harry Potter sequence and her charity work. “One of the things that people should know about her too — not as a counter-argument — is that she has poured an enormous amount of her fortune into making the world a much better place, for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children, through her charity Lumos,” he defined, including that his former costars have volunteered with Lumos and “seen on the ground the work that they do.”
The philanthropist, nevertheless, has continued to double down on her opinions. Rowling reacted to a report by The Sunday Times alleging that Scottish police will “record rapes by offenders with male genitalia as being committed by a woman if the attacker ‘identifies as a female,'” in December 2021. “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman,” the screenwriter wrote on Twitter.
Amid all of her controversies, Rowling didn’t participate in HBO’s latest Harry Potter twentieth Anniversary reunion particular however was as an alternative featured in archival footage shot in 2019.
Keep scrolling to see what different Hogwarts alums have stated about Rowling through the years.
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Daniel Radcliffe
The British actor, who performed the titular position in all eight Potter movies, is an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ+ group and referenced his work with The Trevor Project in an essay condemning Rowling’s June 2020 tweets. “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,” the Miracle Workers star wrote amid the backlash. “Transgender ladies are ladies. Any assertion on the contrary erases the id and dignity of transgender folks and goes in opposition to all recommendation given by skilled well being care associations who’ve way more experience on this subject material than both Jo or I.”
In October 2022, the Lost City star defined why he felt it was so “important” for him to take a stance in opposition to the Silkworm writer’s anti-trans stance.
“The reason I felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that,” Radcliffe defined throughout an interview with IndieWire.
He added: “I don’t think I would’ve been able to look myself in the mirror had I not said anything. But it’s not mine to guess what’s going on in someone else’s head.”
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Emma Watson
“Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are,” the Little Women actress wrote by way of Twitter in June 2020. “I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are. I donate to @Mermaids_Gender and @mamacash. If you can, perhaps you’ll feel inclined to do the same. Happy #PRIDE2020 Sending love x.”
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Rupert Grint
The Servant star mirrored on his determination to talk out in help of the trans group in a May 2021 interview with Esquire. “Sometimes silence is even louder,” Grint said at the time. “I felt like I needed to [speak] as a result of I feel it was necessary to … I feel it’s a useful group that I feel wants standing up for.”
Though he does not agree along with her beliefs, the actor, recognized for enjoying Ron Weasley, acknowledged that he nonetheless has respect for Rowling and the impact she’s had on his profession. “I liken J.K. Rowling to an auntie,” Grint wrote in a January 2022 piece for U.Okay.outlet The Times. “I don’t necessarily agree with everything my auntie says, but she’s still my auntie. It’s a tricky one.”
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Bonnie Wright
The actress, who performed Ginny Weasley, acknowledged her beliefs that “Transwomen are Women” in June 2020, earlier than addressing followers who could have felt conflicted about their love for the sequence. “If Harry Potter was a source of love and belonging for you, that love is infinite and there to take without judgment or questions” she wrote on social media on the time.
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Eddie Redmayne
“As someone who has worked with both J.K. Rowling and members of the trans community, I wanted to make it absolutely clear where I stand,” the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them star stated in a press release in June 2020. “I disagree with Jo’s comments. Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid. I would never want to speak on behalf of the community but I do know that my dear transgender friends and colleagues are tired of this constant questioning of their identities, which all too often results in violence and abuse. They simply want to live their lives peacefully, and it’s time to let them do so.”
Three months later, Redmayne instructed the Daily Mail that he was upset by the “vitriol” directed at Rowling although he disagreed along with her stance. The Tony-winning actor defined that he has many “trans friends and colleagues” who’re “having their human rights challenged around the world and facing discrimination on a daily basis,” however disavowed the “absolutely disgusting” assaults being hurled at Rowling on-line.
“Similarly, there continues to be a hideous torrent of abuse towards trans people online and out in the world that is devastating,” the Oscar winner added in September 2020.
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Ralph Fiennes
Fiennes has acknowledged that he finds the quantity of hate that Rowling obtained in response to her tweets upsetting. “I can’t perceive the vitriol directed at her,” the actor, known for playing Voldemort, said in a March 2021 interview with The Telegraph. “I can perceive the warmth of an argument, however I discover this age of accusation and the necessity to condemn irrational. I discover the extent of hatred that folks categorical about views that differ from theirs, and the violence of language towards others, disturbing.”
The Schindler’s List actor doubled down on his statements in an October 2022 interview with The New York Times. “J.Okay. Rowling has written these nice books about empowerment, about younger youngsters discovering themselves as human beings. It’s about the way you turn out to be a greater, stronger, extra morally centered human being. The verbal abuse directed at her is disgusting, it’s appalling,” he instructed the outlet.
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Jason Isaacs
The OA alum defined in January 2022 that he will not flip his again on Rowling, regardless of their totally different opinions. “For all that she has said some very controversial things, I was not going to be jumping to stab her in the front — or back — without a conversation with her, which I’ve not managed to have yet,” Isaacs instructed The Telegraph.
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Robbie Coltrane
Coltrane, who performed Hagrid within the Harry Potter franchise, defended the writer to the Radio Times in a September 2020 interview. “I don’t think what she said was offensive, really,” he stated on the time. “I don’t know why, however there’s a complete Twitter era of people that dangle round ready to be offended. They wouldn’t have received the struggle, would they?”
He continued, “That’s me talking like a grumpy old man, but you just think, ‘Oh, get over yourself. Wise up, stand up straight, and carry on.’ I don’t want to get involved in all of that because of all the hate mail and all that s–t, which I don’t need at my time of life.”
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Katie Leung
The Scottish actress, who performed Cho Chang, seemingly responded to Rowling’s anti-trans tweets by sharing sources to organizations and charities that assist to help Black transgender folks on social media. “So, you want my thoughts on Cho Chang? Okay, here goes…” Leung wrote to attract consideration towards her Twitter thread. She concluded by including the hashtag “#AsiansForBlackLives.
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Evanna Lynch
“I’m so saddened to see trans people feeling abandoned by the HP community,” Lynch, who performed Luna Lovegood, wrote on Twitter in June 2020. “I think it’s irresponsible to discuss such a delicate topic over Twitter through fragmented thoughts and I wish Jo wouldn’t. That said, as a friend and admirer of Jo I can’t forget what a generous and loving person she is.”
At the time, Lynch reiterated that “trans women are women.” However, the actress was additionally fast to clear up rumors that the forged had turned in opposition to Rowling in response to her tweets.
“I’ve talked to all the cast, they all have great respect for her even if they don’t agree with her beliefs. I really strongly disagree with the narrative that there’s a rift,” the Dancing With the Stars alum stated throughout a January 2022 look on GB News. “She has her beliefs and she’s doing her thing. We all have strong beliefs and it’s been a very difficult conversation. I want there to be healing and I don’t want us to keep fighting.”
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Helena Bonham Carter
The actress, who portrayed villain Bellatrix Lestrange, stood up for Rowling throughout a November 2022 interview. “It’s horrendous, a load of bollocks. I think she has been hounded,” she claimed to The Times. “It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmental-ism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse. Everybody carries their own history of trauma and forms their opinions from that trauma and you have to respect where people come from and their pain. You don’t all have to agree on everything — that would be insane and boring. She’s not meaning it aggressively, she’s just saying something out of her own experience.”
Bonham Carter added that her former costars who’ve denounced the writer “should let her have her opinions,” arguing, “I think they’re very aware of protecting their own fan base and their generation.”
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Harry Melling
“I can only speak for myself, and what I feel, to me, is very simple, which is that transgender women are women and transgender men are men,” the Dudley Dursley actor told The Independent in January 2023. “Every single person has the right to choose who they are and to identify themselves as what’s true to themselves. I don’t want to join the debate of pointing fingers and saying, ‘That’s right, that’s wrong,’ because I don’t think I’m the correct spokesperson for that. But I do believe that everybody has the right to choose.”
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