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This article was originally written in September 2020 and rewritten in June 2021.
Riddikulus!
Seriously. That’s the only word I have to describe this entire situation. Utterly ridiculous.
JK Rowling is a Transphobe? So What!
I don’t think JK Rowling is transphobic (I’ll explain why later), but for arguments’ sake let’s assume she is. Let’s assume she despises transgender people and believes that their rights should be taken away.
So fucking what.
She’s an author, not a politician. She has no legal power. She cannot zap her magic wand and stop gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapy.
‘But she’s a woman of influence and her views will affect other people’s views.’
Yes, they have absolutely affected other people’s views. Thousands of people now hate JK Rowling and have been calling for her literary blood. All JK Rowling’s so-called transphobic views have done is lead to hatred against her, NOT hatred against transgender people. Can people not see that? Are they that idiotic? What ‘hate’ against the trans community has her opinions stirred up? All it’s stirred up is hatred against her and solidarity for the trans community.
‘But she can’t be in favour of LGBT+ rights and not support trans rights.’
But she does support trans rights, as I’ll shortly address. And even if she didn’t, why should she? Why does it matter? She shouldn’t have to. No one is ‘entitled’ to anything in this world. I don’t have to support gay marriage (I do, by the way). But I don’t have to. If I didn’t it would be closed-minded and bigoted, but so what? Am I a politician? Do I have any real direct power to make gay people marry or not? Am I going around shooting gay people? Is JK Rowling walking around murdering trans people? No, she is not. Her views have not caused any harm, they have just caused solidarity for trans people and rage against her.
‘But she shouldn’t have those views in the first place.’
No no no no NO (Mamma Mia, fuck this world). This is a free world and you can’t police people’s opinions. People you love and look up to are going to have opinions on things you don’t agree with. That’s life. You want further proof?
Enid Blyton was a fantastic children’s author. She was also racist.
Michael Jackson was one of the greatest pop performers of all time. He was probably a paedophile.
Miles Davis was one of the most incredible, innovative jazz musicians of all time. He was also a crass misogynist.
Adolf Hitler was a decent artist. And we all know his story.
You don’t have to like someone to appreciate their art. You can think JK Rowling is full of shit all you want, but does that really affect the work that she has done? If it has, no one is forcing you to read Harry Potter ever again. But I’m still going to watch Harry Potter and read her other books (I read and reviewed Troubled Blood) because I really don’t give a flying fuck if someone is a racist/homophobe/transphobe/etc. Art is art.
If JK Rowling was a racist I wouldn’t care. I mean sure, it would suck, but I would see that as a sign of ignorance. We forget that racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia/lorepipsumphobia usually comes from a place of ignorance rather than malice.
People Are Angry For No Reason
It’s been a tough year. Life sucks with the pandemic, we all know. People are bored, and with all the Black Lives Matter stuff already going on, this seems like a logical thing to make a fuss about—
Or does it???
Here’s what happened: a woman made a few slightly insensitive tweets. The extent to which they are ‘insensitive’ is debatable, but for argument’s sake let’s say they were.
Does that really warrant Internet outrage? I’m no stranger to outrage culture; I’m part of the generation that cried horrendously when Game of Thrones ended the way they didn’t want it to. But the outrage to what has happened: a few words, not any actual actions, a few words, is…well, to say disproportionate is an enormous understatement. The amount of outrage, the fury, the slandering — not just from woke Twitter snowflakes but from other celebrities, is…I can’t even explain how ludicrous it is.
Maybe I’m the only one (I’m one of the few people I know who liked the GOT ending too), but as far as I can see, the fury this has caused is exceedingly ridiculous. It’s so ridiculous it seems like a joke. I really CANNOT understand why anyone would be so angry about this. A little disappointed, sure. Maybe disheartened, maybe irritated, or even mildly upset. That sounds like a normal reaction. When someone we look up to says/does something we don’t like, being a bit disheartened or sad is a normal, healthy reaction.
The colossal anger that I have witnessed unfold is not normal. It’s stupid. Not even a bit stupid; unbelievably, unquestionably absurd. It’s so absurd that I barely have the words to describe it. I cannot possibly convey to you how baffled I am by the amount of anger that JK Rowling’s words have stirred up in people. Of all the horrible things going on in the world, I just don’t fucking get it.
I get being upset at a cop murdering an innocent man (although does that justify rioting?) I get being pissed off at the government for poorly handling the pandemic.
But I really really really don’t get being upset at this.
Maybe I just meditate too much. Perhaps I just don’t care (seriously, I wish I didn’t know about this, that’s how mind-blowingly insignificant it seems). Maybe if I were trans I would care more, maybe I would be genuinely upset. But honestly, why should I be? If I were trans and a Harry Potter fan, why should I cry about the author’s views on transgender people? Don’t I have more backbone and gumption than that? Is this a worthwhile thing to be enraged about?
JK Rowling Isn’t Even Transphobic
Now here’s the final touch. I’ve read everything JK Rowling said — her tweets, her essay. I’ve even read Troubled Blood, the allegedly ‘transphobic’ book.
Despite the ridiculous, stupid reaction to this utterly pointless situation, maybe it is slightly justified. Maybe JK Rowling really does hate trans people—
Oh wait, she doesn’t.
Right. Let’s have a look at what she said that was so allegedly awful.
Tweet One:
‘Dress however you please.
Call yourself whatever you like.
Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you.
Live your best life in peace and security.
But force women out of their jobs for stating sex is real?
#IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill‘
Now, what part of that is transphobic? Honestly it sounds like the complete opposite. If it were really transphobic, it would read ‘call yourself by what is between your legs, not what you identify as.’
Basically, JK Rowling supported Maya Forstater, a woman who was fired because she refused to label a person as their gender identity rather than their biological sex.
Once again, so what? So JK Rowling doesn’t think that that is a worthy reason to fire someone. This doesn’t mean she is transphobic. She just doesn’t think that a woman deserves to be fired for her opinions. I’m not going to comment too much on the whole Maya Forstater fiasco because it really doesn’t interest me much, and this article is focusing on JK Rowling.
If I say that I don’t think Donald Trump is that bad, does that mean I support white supremacy? There are many out there who assert that Trump is a ‘white supremacist’ (despite there being no evidence to support this statement — typical woke gaslighting). If JK Rowling decides to support a woman being fired for a reason she deems superficial, so what? This doesn’t mean she doesn’t support trans people. She just doesn’t think someone should be fired. Anyway, next.
Tweet Two:
‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’
Yes, saying ‘people who menstruate’ is daft because men don’t have periods. Only biological females are capable of menstruating. Having said that, a trans woman who doesn’t have periods is no less of a woman. A trans man who is still getting his period is no less of a man. I haven’t had a period since 2018 because of my Mirena coil. This doesn’t mean that I’m no longer a woman. Women over fifty who have gone through menopause don’t have periods.
But we can’t account for all of these nuances in a single sentence that was clearly meant as an off-colour remark. One could say she was pretty much taking the piss — again, so what? Is no one allowed to take the piss anymore?
Yes, what she said was clearly in poor taste. But it still isn’t real tangible proof that she doesn’t support trans people. Making a light-hearted comment, poor taste or not, is really not enough to gage what someone really thinks about something. Certainly not in < 240 characters.
Saying ‘people who menstruate’ is more transphobic, because it denies trans people the possibility of being wholly integrated into their new gender.
Perhaps if she’d have left it at that then maybe we could say, ah, so she doesn’t care about trans people. But her following tweets pretty much show she supports trans people.
Tweet Three:
‘If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. 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.’
I agree. We can’t and shouldn’t ignore biological sex. Ironically, ignoring biological sex is MORE transphobic because in order to be trans, one has to ‘transition’ from their biological sex. One can’t do this without first having a biological sex.
Tweet Four:
‘The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women—i.e., to male violence—‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences—is a nonsense.’
Erm it kinda sounds like she SUPPORT trans people, she just doesn’t support the idea of ignoring biological sex which is what a lot of woke online activists do when they discuss gender by claiming that ‘gender is a social construct’ and there’s no difference between men and women.
Tweet Five:
‘I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.’
This really does not sound like a transphobic bigot to me. This sounds like someone who supports trans people while also caring about women’s issues.
It sounds like she is desperately trying to make a point to a bunch of angry lunatics who have no interest in open discussion. What’s really sad is that JK Rowling has historically been incredibly supportive of LGBT+ rights and the working class. She has donated to dozens of charities. I think she really does genuinely care and wants to support the trans community, but because no one is actually taking the time to engage in a dialogue with her — heck, maybe even point out where she may be wrong — there is no resolution to this. It’s just angry people slandering her and people shrugging their shoulders and saying ‘well yes, I guess JK Rowling’s a transphobe now, hardy-hum.’
As for her essay — I read it, and again it sounds like she does genuinely support trans people. She just doesn’t want women-only spaces to become opened to any man who calls himself a woman, which I agree with. A man simply calling himself a woman is not the same as a trans woman who has undergone therapy, surgery, and legally identifies as a woman.
Just because a man calls himself a woman, doesn’t make him a woman. Men and women are biologically different. There’s a reason why trans people get surgery and have to undergo a rigorous process in order to transition. It isn’t as simple as ‘I feel like the opposite gender today therefore I am.’ There’s a process involved because this is a huge thing — changing your entire body, your physiology, your hormonal make-up.
So if that’s transphobic then clearly no one cares about logic any more. I would have thought that it’s more empathetic to trans people to say that being trans is more than simply deciding one day that you’re the other gender. Being a man in a dress is NOT the same as being a trans woman. These women are all trans, but they are clearly women. They live and present as women. They’re clearly not the same as someone like Jessica Yaniv, who actually IS a man pretending to be a woman for the sake of being predatory. Such people do not represent trans people.
Real trans people experience gender dysphoria, a genuine medical condition. It’s to do with the brain and the body. I cannot snap my fingers and decide to be a man. If I were a trans man, I would always have been a man, born in a female body. It’s not a ‘choice’, it’s to do with a person’s brain.
I think there just needs to be more dialogue around this and more clarity. A society cannot prosper if people constantly yell at each other and get angry over a bunch of nonsense. What’s needed is calm, open dialogue, not ‘cancelling’ people. I think the issue of transgenderism has become overly politicized, which is quite sad. It should be looked at primarily from a scientific and medical standpoint, not a political one.
Trans women are women, trans men are men. Nuff’ said.
Great article! I definitely feel like jk Rowling gets an absurd amount of hate from the woke crowd who just scream transphobic at the top of their lungs without any real evidence to back it up.
Thank you, I wish more people would look at evidence before making judgements on things.