They say to never meet your idols as such an occurrence can result in tremendous disappointment and even heartbreak.
This has been the unfortunate experience lived by many Harry Potter readers who identify as transgender, who may not have met its author, JK Rowling, but have heard enough from her to hope never to have to encounter her in person.
Highlights
- JK Rowling sparked controversy with her views on transgender issues and gender recognition laws.
- Rowling stated she would rather go to jail than comply with terms supporting trans identities.
- Activist Tia Latham describes Rowling's statements as detrimental to the trans community.
Recent events have strengthened the LGBTQ+ communities’ growing disappointment over the author who has inspired so many young readers.
Rowling has provoked controversy in the past couple of years due to her responses regarding proposed changes to UK gender recognition laws, and her views on sex and gender, which are topics that have divided politics in various countries.
JK Rowling provoked controversy due to her recent responses regarding proposed changes to UK gender recognition laws
Image credits: Mike Marsland/Getty Image
The best-selling author started to fuel debates on transgender rights in 2020, when Rowling wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) that transgender people should live their lives as they pleased in "peace and security", but questioned women being "force[d] out of their jobs for stating that sex is real".
Following the initial post, Rowling has continued to express controversial statements, with another X publication in the same year, where Rowling mocked an article for using the phrase "people who menstruate", and tweeted that women's rights and "lived reality" would be "erased" if "sex isn't real".
"People who menstruate" has been an accepted term to use in order to be more inclusive of people who do not identify as female, but still have their period.
Moreover, sex and gender have been scientifically proven and accepted to be different concepts, as The World Health Organisation explained that sex refers to “the different biological and physiological characteristics of males and females, such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones, etc.”
She replied “no” to a photo posted on X which showed the phrase, “Repeat after us: trans women are women” projected on a government building
Image credits: Daniel Ogren
Additionally, gender refers to "the socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and relationships of and between groups of women and men.”
Newer updates of the 58-year-old philanthropist revealed that Rowling has continued to propagate views regarding the LGBTQ+ community, which some have found to be damaging to marginalized communities.
Last week, she claimed she would “happily” go to jail in order to keep misgendering people in a post on X.
HuffPost reported that the mom-of-three was reacting to unverified reports about the UK’s Labour Party and their plans to amend an already existing hate crime law to better protect gender identity.
Rowling wrote “It matters not what someone is born from, but what they grow to be,” in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'
Image credits: Executive Office of the President
Rowling wrote: “I’ll happily do two years if the alternative is compelled speech and forced denial of the reality and importance of sex.
“Bring on the court case, I say. It’ll be more fun than I’ve ever had on a red carpet.”
The UK already acknowledges hate crimes stemming from race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and transgender identity.
Additionally, offenses driven by racial or religious motivations may be categorized as "aggravated" crimes, resulting in more severe penalties.
Rowling's posts on X have sparked a lot of controversies
As described by the Daily Mail, the Labour Party wants this “aggravated” classification to also be available for crimes motivated by gender identity.
The news source cited an unidentified conservative lawmaker opposing transgender rights who concluded that this could potentially result in individuals being incarcerated solely for intentionally using the wrong pronouns when addressing someone.
The existing legal guidelines in the UK stipulate that using incorrect gender pronouns to address someone can be considered a criminal act if employed as a "deliberate tactic during the commission of an offense.”
And just in case Rowling’s views weren’t clear enough, she went on to reply a simple “no” to a photo posted on X which showed the phrase, “repeat after us: trans women are women” being projected on a government building.
She also reacted to unverified reports about the Labour Party's plans to amend an existing hate crime law to better protect gender identity
Bored Panda has reached out to Tia Latham, an intersex woman with what she has described to be a transgender experience.
She reflected on the impact Rowling’s statement has had on people who identify as transgender.
“The impact is detrimental to the trans community, it plays into many misinformed views that have been curated by people in positions of power to sensationalize, hyper-sexualize, and attack some of the most vulnerable people in society,” the television personality said.
Transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization, including rape, sexual assault, and aggravated or simple assault, according to a new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.
The author admitted that she would happily go to prison rather than call trans women ‘women’
Tia, who is also an LGBTQ+ activist, expressed her disappointment at the author who fueled many children's imagination, from all walks of life, with famous quotes such as “it matters not what someone is born from, but what they grow to be,” from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
“JK Rowling is obsessed with trans people and won’t stop attacking us,” the activist said.
She continued: “She should have her OBE revoked by the King seeing as she represents hate.
“As someone who grew up reading and loving her books, seeing her attack my community at every opportunity she gets is devastating.”
Tia Latham, an LGBTQ+ activist who identifies as an intersex woman said Rowling's rants were detrimental to the trans community
Image credits: officialtialatham
In 2017, Rowling received an OBE, an Order of the British Empire, by Prince Williams, for her services to literature and philanthropy.
Tia went on to explain that influential figures in positions of power using social media to berate transgender people was “a typical tactic used to divert attention away from much more pressing political and humanitarian matters such as climate change, the cost of living crisis many countries are facing and the wars across the globe.”
The advocate based in London, who is followed by 54 thousand people on Instagram, has also noticed how such rants against her community were harmful.
“There has been a drastic shift in attitudes towards trans people and unfortunately it’s for the worst,” Tia said.
Tia, who is also a TV personality, said that JK Rowling was obsessed with trans people
Image credits: officialtialatham
She continued: “Trans and intersex people were revered in history and celebrated in many cultures and as time comes to present day this is clearly not reflected.”
According to LGBT Health, in ancient cultures such as Mesopotamia, Sumerian, Assyria, Babylonia, and Akkadian, there is historical evidence that documents priests-priestesses known as ‘Gala’, a male-to-female priesthood that was accepted as sacred and given reverence.
The Old Testament Era also unveils evidence from an ancient Mesopotamian text known as ‘Erra and Ishum’ that references the worship of the fertility Goddess Ishtar and describes men ‘who changed their masculinity into femininity’.
“People such as JK Rowling alike use their celebrity to push their hateful views onto the wider masses which incites more violence and discord,” Tia said.
Transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to experience violent victimization
Image credits: Inti Tupac Liberman Ares
She added: “JK Rowling does not have the capacity to comprehend the pain and suffering she has caused to the trans community.
“JK Rowling’s unprovoked outbursts make Voldemort (from her book) seem much more a hero than a villain.”
Planned Parenthood states that being transgender means one’s gender identity is different from the gender that the doctor gave them when they were born, based on the way their body looked.
That label is called “sex assigned at birth” — usually “male” or “female.”
JK Rowling does not have the capacity to comprehend the pain she has caused to the trans community, Tia said
Image credits: Nik
Meanwhile, when a person has the same gender identity as the sex the doctor assigned them at birth, they are considered to be "cisgender" — like a man who was assigned male at birth or a woman who was assigned female at birth.
According to the non-profit organization, intersex is a general term used for a variety of situations in which a person is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the boxes of “female” or “male.”
Sometimes doctors perform surgeries on intersex babies and children to make their bodies fit binary ideas of “male” or “female”.
As a result, doctors always assign intersex babies legal sex (male or female, in most states in the USA), but, just like with non-intersex people, that doesn’t mean that’s the gender identity they’ll grow up to have.
While some people strongly disagreed with JK Rowling's views, others appeared to support them
