Daniel Radcliffe spoke out against recent transphobic statements made by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling in an essay penned for The Trevor Project.
ICYMI: Author JK Rowling Slammed for Transphobic Tweets, Once Again
A few of Rowling’s objectionable tweets:
“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe, who rose to fame as the title character in Rowling’s books, wrote in response. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I. According to The Trevor Project, 78% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported being the subject of discrimination due to their gender identity. It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.”
“I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now,” Radcliffe prefaced his remarks. “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.”
Radcliffe also prefaced readers who love Harry Potter to try and separate the author from the books.
“To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you. If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.”
Read Radcliffe’s full piece here.
In December 2019, Rowling sparked a firestorm, ending a weeks-long Twitter silence to show support for a researcher who had been fired from an international thinktank over a series of transphobic tweets, one of which asserted, “Men cannot change into women.”
And as far back as 2017 she’s been “liking” content deemed as transphobic.
Rowling’s latest remarks prompted GLAAD to denounce her: “JK Rowling continues to align herself with an ideology which willfully distorts facts about gender identity and people who are trans. In 2020, there is no excuse for targeting trans people.”
