From The Mind of Merc - J K Rowling

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today (probably because of my last parody) I was thinking about J K Rowling.

I will admit I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter series and I still greatly enjoy reading and listening to it through audiobooks. However, I agree it has been massively tainted by the transphobic views expressed by its author, J. K. Rowling.

There have some who have tried to defend her saying her comments aren’t offensive (Robbie Coltrane), that they’re “simple facts on biology.” (Rishi Sunak) and even Rowling herself has denied the label claiming she wants trans people to be free from discrimination and abuse. But when someone sets up a foundation that directly supports those opposing trans causes, I think it becomes almost impossible to argue otherwise. 

The J K Rowling Women’s Fund is ‘a legal fighting fund for women protecting their sex-based rights’. It avows that it seeks to support those who have “lost their livelihoods or are facing tribunals because of their expressed beliefs” or are “being forced to comply with unreasonable inclusion policies regarding single sex spaces and services”. However, what that means or translates to is the fund is can be used by those/is dedicated to fighting against transgender rights "in the workplace [and] in public life”

It’s such a shame that after all the good she’s previously done including founding the Anne Rowling Clinic, the Volant Trust and the children’s charity Lumos – in fact she knocked herself off of the Forbes Rich List due to her charitable giving – and the people she’s helped (including myself), that she is now apparently prepared to die on this hill - 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.” The irony of that stance being her own views pose a distinct and even clearer threat to transpeople and their rights.

Rowling has previously expressed her reasoning for her views as follows: “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased [and] erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.”
Aside from the fact that this doesn’t make sense as a) the point of transgender is to enable to someone to find and live their true identity and not ‘erase the concept of sex’ and b) even if it did ‘erase the concept of sex’, whatever happened in people’s lives will still have happened and can be discussed and related to – this ostensibly noble cause has some deeply problematic elements:

a)      The starting point for her transphobia seems to be due to a different phobia – the fear that men will use the ‘freedom’ to use female-only spaces by claiming to be transgender in order to attack women. There are a number of flaws in this thinking:
1) Number of reports of women attacked by transgender women: 0.

2) Ireland has operated ‘self-ID’ when it comes to gender since 2015 and in that time there have been no such incidents. In fact transgender women are far more likely to be the victims of sexual assault than the perpetrators. Especially when views like Rowling’s make such places of potential refuge from attacks out of bounds.

3) If a man wants to enter a female-only space and assault women then he will, regardless of what he identifies as.

4) By Rowling’s reasoning, lesbians should also be viewed as a threat to women as their sexual preference is directed towards women and they are free to enter women-only spaces.

5) If, as the UK Supreme Court has decreed – and Rowling ecstatically agreed with – a person’s sex is whatever they were assigned with at birth, she should be just as happy for a transgender man (who was born female) to use female-only spaces – which surely negates her aim of ‘protecting’ said spaces.
b)      The method she has chosen to carry out her campaign endangers the lives of the very transgender people she seems to fear (and claims not to want to hurt) as it seemingly denies their existence. She says she loves transgender people yet refutes the basis of their being – that biological sex can only be male or female – as propounded by the JKR Fund. Even though intersex variations exist and are an accepted scientific fact. 

Rowling’s discriminatory stance opens the door for even more extreme views and, sadly, violent actions of those who are even more strongly against the existence of transpeople.
Just as the appointment of Donald Trump as President in 2016 meant that previously concealed racist and misogynist people and views came to the fore under the impression that the ascension of the man who quite clearly shared their views meant said views were now acceptable, doing something that could be perceived to negatively impact the rights and existence of others – such as the transgender community – likewise can be and is interpreted by those vehemently opposed to the existence of transpeople as confirmation and approval of their own hate-filled views.
Since 2011-12 the number of hate crimes recorded by police has more than tripled and 2022-23 saw an 11% rise in hate crimes against transgender people compared to the previous year.
In 2023, 16 year old transgender Brianna Ghey in 2023 was killed in an “exceptionally brutal” attack by two 15 year old students 

It’s unclear if Rowling doesn’t see this or doesn’t care (although her support of anti-trans actions such as her defence of Maya Forstater who was sacked due to transphobic comments and her retweeting of posts by transphobic activists like Katherine Deves sadly suggests the latter)

Consequently, even if it’s supposedly ‘not what she means’, it doesn’t change the fact that if you wish to view yourself as an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, you CANNOT align yourself with Rowling and her deeply problematic views which pose a threat to those she claims she respects. And it is worrying that so many – including Harry Potter stars – are seemingly fine with doing so.