Anti-trans-Tweets: "Harry Potter" writer JK Rowling triggers anger and disappointment

The "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling has voiced trans-hostility several times and thus angered fans. Now actor Daniel Radcliffe comments.

• JK Rowling has once again triggered anger and outrage on Twitter.
• The " Harry Potter " author released a number of anti-trans- Tweets .
• In addition to numerous activists, " Harry Potter " actor Daniel Radcliffe also takes the floor 

The " Harry Potter " author Joanne K. Rowling is currently at the center of the indignation again after dropping a series of anti-trans-Tweets on Saturday afternoon ( June 6th, 2020 ) . 

Rowling shared an article on Devex, a development cooperation platform, on Twitter and made fun of its heading. More precisely, about the phrase "People who menstruate", in German "people who menstruate". Rowling hinted in her tweet that it must be women instead.

'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Bowing? Wimpund? Woomud?

Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate https://t.co/cVpZxG7gaA

Anger over “Harry Potter” writer: Why are JK Rowling's tweets hostile to trans?

The author's comments were quickly described as hostile to trans in the comments . The reason: In her tweets, JK Rowling made fun of the need for such an inclusion. Because the phrase “people who menstruate” includes not only biological women, but also explicitly trans, non-binary and gender-non-conforming people. In other words, people who either belong to a different gender beyond binary genders or who do not belong to any particular gender ideal. 

Rowling responded to the criticism with an argument based on an allegedly unchangeable biological gender. Without biological gender, Rowling writes , there is no same-sex attraction. Homosexuality is therefore evidence of the biological sexes. The author implies a kind of competition between the existence of trans and homosexual people. But being trans and being gay are by no means mutually exclusive. 

Trans-hostile tweets by "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling 

In modern feminism, which includes trans people, both biological gender and social gender, between which "sex" and "gender" are differentiated in English-speaking countries, are seen as fluid, that is, changeable. The sexual and gender identity of people is not necessarily linked to the genital organs with which they are born. Meanwhile, the construct of strictly binary genders, i.e. male and female, is no longer a consensus even in science. 

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.

Despite her biological argumentation, JK Rowling emphasized that she herself knows and loves trans people and that it is not "hatred" to tell the truth. However, this is not the first time that the " Harry Potter " author has been accused of being trans-hostile . It was noticed several times that she tagged trans-hostile posts from other accounts on Twitter . In December 2019, Rowling then defended the economist Maya Forstater, who had been fired due to transphobic statements. 

Since then Rowling has been called “ TERF ” by some people online . A term that the author vehemently resists and therefore dismisses as "hatred of women". 

JK Rowling's anti-trans-Tweets: what does TERF mean?

The abbreviation " TERF " stands for "Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism", which means "trans-exclusive radical feminism" in German. As author Linus Giese explains in the “Queerspiegel” blog, this is a way of thinking that trans people deny their identity or existence. Like Rowling, the so-called TERFS assume an unchangeable biological gender.

In this sense, they see trans men as victims of structures hostile to women. In other words, biological women who flee into a male body from oppressive patriarchy. In this line of thought, however, trans women in particular become enemy images. Namely as biological men who supposedly disguise themselves as women in order to attack other women in protected rooms. In the United States, these trans-hostile arguments about public toilets boiled up. 

I can't believe that in this moment @jk_rowling has decided the most useful thing to tweet to her 14.5 million followers is wilfully pedantic, gender critical TERF nonsense. The world is full of threats worth fighting against. Trans people are not a threat. #TransWomenareWomen

Criticism and anger for anti-trans-Tweets by JK Rowling

On the contrary, international studies show that trans people are more frequently exposed to discrimination and harassment and even violence in all areas of their everyday lives. Although trans people in Germany and the EU are legally protected, they still face major obstacles in everyday life.

Back to the wording that J.K. Rowling criticized in her original tweet. The inclusive designation “people who menstruate” or “people with a uterus” are considered to be hostile to women, according to the TERF way of thinking, since this would supposedly make biological women invisible. However, the aim of these formulations is not to suppress biological women, but simply to involve more people in the debate. 

How do other Harry Potter stars react to Rowling's anti-trans-Tweets?

The " Harry Potter " actor Daniel Radcliffe has become in the wake of controversy surrounding Rowling out clearly the rights of trans women "Trans-sex Women are women," he wrote in a statement for "The Trevor Project", a US organization dedicated committed to LGBTQI * children and teenagers. He continues to learn to be a good ally for trans and non-binary people. Radcliffe also apologized to anyone whose memory of the Harry Potter books was clouded by JK Rowling's comments. 

In the Twitter debate, many users also criticized Rowling's racist naming of the " Harry Potter " character Cho Chang. That's why her actress Katie Leung expressed herself . However, she used her tweet to instead draw attention to non-profit organizations for black trans people.

So, you want my thoughts on Cho Chang? Okay, here goes ... (thread)

By Valérie Eiseler