Since late 2019, Rowling has publicly voiced her opinions on transgender activism and related issues. Rowling has used language and expressed her views towards transgender people in a manner which has frequently been referred to as transphobic by LGBT rights organizations and some feminists, even as she has received support from other feminists.
Overview
Rowling has stated that her politics are left-leaning, liberal and fiercely anti-authoritarian, pointing to her literary works to demonstrate this. She states that she is not an ideologue, distrusting ideologies, but is an idealist, believing in the human capacity for collaboration and mutual support. She holds that her political home is the pragmatic centre-left, where that is focused on dealing with economic disparity, championing social liberalism and equal rights. Whilst maintaining that she remains left of centre in her politics, she believes the left-right divide has been disrupted, believing a form of identity politics to be fundamentally illiberal.[1]
Rowling's Harry Potter books, while ostensibly fantasy, engage with real-world political issues and ideologies, reflecting Rowling's own views. She explained, "I wanted Harry to leave our world and find exactly the same problems in the wizarding world.”[2] The works explore a wide range of real world political issues which include:
Authoritarianism and fascism: A central theme of the books being condemnation of authoritarianism and fascist policies. The books depict the dangers of pure-blood supremacy, discrimination, and the suppression of dissent, drawing parallels between Nazism and Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
Liberal democracy: Her books champion democratic values such as equality, tolerance, free speech, and the rule of law. The struggle against Voldemort is presented as a fight to preserve these values against those who seek to destroy them. The importance of institutions and fair processes is also highlighted, though not without acknowledging their flaws.
Social inequality and prejudice: Rowling’s books address issues of social inequality and prejudice, particularly through the treatment of house-elves, werewolves, and other marginalised groups. The series critiques prejudice based on blood status and species.
The importance of resistance and activism: The characters in the series, particularly Harry and his friends, demonstrate the power of individual and collective action in challenging oppressive forces.
The books examine the basis of power, the control of information and the role of the media and explore themes of justice, discipline and punishment.
Some themes in the books are presented more ambiguously. For example, the Ministry of Magic is both bumbling, inefficient and corrupt, but also inhabited by key players, and with a layer of necessary legitimacy. This reflects a more nuanced understanding of real world power structures.[3]
British politics
J. K. Rowling has been a long-time friend of Gordon Brown (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010) and his wife Sarah Brown. In September 2008, Rowling donated £1 million to the Labour Party and commended Brown's commitment to improving the lives of poor families.[4] Rowling praised Brown in a 2009 Time magazine essay, saying she "still wanted him in charge".[5] Rowling was critical of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party.[6][7] In June 2024, Rowling wrote that she would struggle to support the Labour Party under the leadership of Keir Starmer due to its stance on gender-related issues.[8][9]
Scottish independence
As a resident of Edinburgh, Rowling was eligible to vote in the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, and intended to vote "No".[10][failed verification] She donated £1 million (US$1,694,000) to the Better Together anti-independence campaign,[11] led by her former neighbour and friend Alistair Darling, and used the "Death Eaters" characters from her Harry Potter series—who reject wizards unless they have pure blood—as a reference in her explanation of her donation: "when people try to make this debate about the purity of your lineage, things start getting a little Death Eaterish for my taste".[12] In Rowling's post-donation blog post in mid-June 2014, she explained that she is "friendly" with members of both campaigns and stated a belief that "there are intelligent, thoughtful people on both sides of this question".[13][14]
In 2018, Rowling tweeted that she was tired of "blood and soil ethno-nationalists marching with" civic campaigners. She also stated that Scottish nationalism "contains traces of bigotry".[15]
Brexit
Rowling opposed Brexit and campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union, in the run up to the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, stating on her website that "I'm the mongrel product of this European continent and I'm an internationalist. I was raised by a Francophile mother whose family was proud of their part-French heritage .... My values are not contained or proscribed by borders. The absence of a visa when I cross the channel has symbolic value to me. I might not be in my house, but I'm still in my hometown."[16]
Rowling expressed concern that "racists and bigots" were directing parts of the Leave campaign. In a blog post, she added: "How can a retreat into selfish and insecure individualism be the right response when Europe faces genuine threats, when the bonds that tie us are so powerful, when we have come so far together? How can we hope to conquer the enormous challenges of terrorism and climate change without cooperation and collaboration?"[17]
International politics
United States
Rowling told a Spanish newspaper in February 2008 that the politics of the United States had negatively impacted not only the US, but the UK as well; she stated that "it is a pity that Clinton and Obama have to be rivals because both are extraordinary."[18]
Rowling advised the 2008 graduating class of Harvard, "the great majority of you belong to the world's only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden."[19]
Rowling made analogies between Donald Trump and Voldemort after the Republican presidential candidate called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States on 7 December 2015.[20]
Native American issues
On 7 October 2016, Rowling released on Pottermore four pieces of writing exclusively as an introduction to the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, titled History of Magic in North America. It included her fictionalised ideas of "Native American Magic."[21][22][23][24] Her use of Native American religious figures and symbolism from contemporary, living cultures for this work of fiction was met with protests by Native American communities; she was accused of racial insensitivity, violation of intellectual property rights, disrespect and appropriating "Native traditions while erasing Native peoples."[25] While usually friendly and actively engaged with her fanbase on social media, after answering one question about her interpretation of skinwalkers that resulted in "thousands of tweets directed at her about these concerns",[25]The Washington Post wrote that "Native people took to Twitter to voice their disappointment and demand a response from Rowling, who has not answered her detractors online."[22] "She has not addressed it at all", wrote Adrienne Keene. "The silence is noted, and it's deafening."[21]
European migrant crisis
In 2015, Rowling expressed support for refugees.[26][27]
Ukraine
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Rowling has publicly expressed support for Ukraine, pledging to match funding for aid to children trapped in orphanages in Ukraine.[28] She also publicly expressed opposition to Russian president Vladimir Putin.[29]
In a speech made on 25 March 2022, Putin alleged that Russian culture was being "cancelled" in Western countries, and compared Russia to Rowling "[falling] out of favour with fans of so-called gender freedoms" in reference to her statements on transgender people.[30][31] Rowling rejected Putin's comparison,[32] saying criticism of cancel culture is "possibly not best made" by people that kill civilians or imprison their critics.[33][34]
Israel
On 22 October 2015, a letter was published in The Guardian signed by Rowling (along with over 150 other figures from arts and politics) opposing the cultural boycott of Israel, and announcing the creation of a network for dialogue, called Culture for Coexistence.[35] Rowling later explained her position in more detail, saying that although she opposed most of Benjamin Netanyahu's actions she did not think the cultural boycott would bring about the removal of Israel's leader or help improve the situation in Israel and Palestine.[36]
Free speech
Rowling wrote about what it meant to be British saying, "It means a welfare state of which we should be fiercely proud and a tradition of tolerance and free speech we should defend to our last collective breath."[37]
In July 2020, Rowling signed an open letter published in Harper's Magazine titled "A Letter on Justice and Open Debate",[38] with 150 other public figures, largely writers and academics. The letter states in part, "The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted", criticises "a vogue for public shaming and ostracism" and "a blinding moral certainty", warns of fear spreading in the arts and media, and denounces President Donald Trump as "a real threat to democracy".[39][40][41][42]
Objections to the letter included accusations that Rowling and the other signatories had powerful means to publish their opinions, and that it was disingenuous to attempt to silence others who might offer criticism of their views.[43][44][45][46] Some thought that Rowling was trying to specifically suppress criticism about her statements concerning transgender topics.[43] After learning who also signed the letter, Jennifer Finney Boylan expressed regret over her support, and stated she would not have signed had she known who the other signatories were.[42] Several of the signers defended their letter, describing it as a stand against what they called the "forces of illiberalism".[39]
Rowling's views on trans individuals were first noted in 2018 when she "liked" a tweet that described trans women as "men in dresses". This garnered criticism from her fans who accused her of being transphobic. Her spokesperson told PinkNews that Rowling had "favorited" the tweet by mistake.[72] In December 2019, Rowling tweeted support for Maya Forstater, who lost her job with the Center for Global Development due to gender-critical views, and is the subject of Forstater v Centre for Global Development Europe.[73] In 2020, Rowling spoke out against a Devex article for using the phrase "people who menstruate" instead of "women". She stated that denying the reality of biological sex erases the experiences of women worldwide and eliminates the possibility of same-sex attraction.[74][75] Responding to criticism, she stated her view that "sex is real and has lived consequences", while additionally writing: "I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them."[76]
Rowling published an essay on her personal website in 2020 in which she expressed a number of concerns about what she called the "new trans activism".[62] Rowling characterizes arguments that femaleness does not reside in the sexed body, and assertions that biological women do not have common experiences, as being misogynistic. She finds language calling females "menstruators" to be dehumanising, and she believes that the trans activist movement seeks to erode women as a political class as well as a biological one. She also explained that the attempt to redefine the legal definition of sex in terms of gender would put safe spaces for women at risk.[67][independent source needed] She said she was concerned that girls were transitioning in order to escape sexism,[77][78] and that she was a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault, and stated 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".[77] She also stated in her essay: "I believe the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable ... trans people need and deserve protection ... I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who've been abused by men."[77][79][80]
Rowling stated that she "never set out to upset anyone" but was "not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal." Neither is she concerned, she explained, about how her opposition to trans rights will affect her legacy.[81][82] She claims the term cisgender is "ideological language signifying belief in the unfalsifiable concept of gender identity."[83]
In March 2022, Rowling criticised Labour party leader Keir Starmer who said "trans women are women" in his personal opinion and according to British law. She accused him of misrepresenting the law and said "the Labour Party can no longer be counted on to defend women's rights".[84] and later that year she voiced opposition to the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill, aimed at allowing transgender people to change their legal gender more easily, calling then-First MinisterNicola Sturgeon a "destroyer of women's rights" over the bill.[85][86][87]
Rowling established a sexual assault crisis centre, Beira's Place in December 2022, exclusively for cisgender female victims of sexual violence. The Guardian quoted rape crisis specialists as saying it "would provide much-needed extra provision, because existing services were being overwhelmed by new cases" and noted that "under the Equality Act, services that exclude trans women are lawful if they are proportionate and legitimate".[88] In response to a fan praising this decision, Rowling tweeted "Merry Terfmas".[89][90][91]
In February 2024, Rowling donated £70,000 to a crowd-funding appeal by For Women Scotland in support of one of their legal cases. The case in question is challenging the definition of "woman" within the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 being inclusive of transgender women with gender recognition certificates. The appeal was started after the UK Supreme Court decided to grant the case a judicial review.[92][93] The case is one of many through which For Women Scotland are seeking to overturn the inclusion of trans women with gender recognition certificates in the legal definition of "woman" in some laws in Scotland.[94][95][96]
On 1 April 2024, in response to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 going into effect, Rowling posted a Twitter thread in which she listed and misgendered several transgender women.[97][98] The women included several public figures as well as convicted sexual offenders. Clarissa-Jan Lim, a reporter for MSNBC, said Rowling grouping them together was "an apparent attempt to draw a connection between trans people and sexual perversion".[99][100] Throughout the thread, Rowling sarcastically referred to all the people as female, but at the end clarified, "Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren't women at all, but men, every last one of them."[101][102] Rowling said that, if her comments were illegal under the new law, she "looked forward to being arrested".[103] Later, a spokesperson for Police Scotland said that Rowling's statements were "not assessed to be criminal and no further action will be taken."[104] The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, defended Rowling, saying "people should not be criminalised for stating simple facts on biology".[105][106]
In December 2024, Rowling asserted that "no child is born in the wrong body" and that "there are no trans kids" on Twitter. She argued that transgender children only existed as part of an ideology promoted by adults, and that this ideology harms minors to an extent similar to the historical harm caused by "lobotomies and false memory syndrome." Rowling also criticised schools for affirming trans identities without parental consent and claimed that TikTok videos were influencing children into becoming transgender.[107][108]
Reactions
Several actors known for portraying Rowling's characters in the Wizarding World criticised her views directly, or spoke out in support of trans rights, including Daniel Radcliffe,[62]Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Eddie Redmayne.[109][110][111] In April 2024, following the publication of the Cass Review, Rowling said she would not accept apologies from Radcliffe or Watson for their support of transgender people were they to be given.[112][113][114]
The June 2020 essay was nominated by the BBC's Amol Rajan for the Russell prize for best writing. The broadcaster said it appreciated Rowling's "bravery" for writing the blog despite the reaction it caused, and the nomination did not mean the BBC supported Rowling's argument.[126][57] Among those who disputed the claims in Rowling's essay were Stonewall;[127]Mermaids, a charity for gender non-conforming children, which criticised Rowling for what it saw as Rowling conflating "trans women with male sexual predators";[128][129] and CEO of GLAAD Sarah Kate Ellis, who said it could create a dangerous environment for the trans community.[130] Feminist gender theoristJudith Butler considered Rowling's claims to be "a rich fantasy" that did not describe social reality.[55][131] Women's rights groups in the United States had said in 2016 that 200 municipalities which allowed transgender people to use women's shelters reported no rise in violence.[132]
In June 2020, the Equality Act was blocked in the U.S. Senate. Republican senator James Lankford cited Rowling's essay as part of his reasoning for opposing the bill.[138] Four authors resigned in protest from the Blair Partnership, Rowling's literary agency, after the company refused to issue a public statement of support for trans rights, saying that "freedom of speech can only be upheld if the structural inequalities that hinder equal opportunities for underrepresented groups are challenged and changed."[139]
In July 2020, following the threat of legal action, British children's newssite The Day publicly apologised to Rowling after publishing an article that suggested her comments caused harm to and attacked transgender people, made comparisons between Rowling's views and those of Wagner on race and Picasso on women, and called for her work to be boycotted. The publication agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to a charity of Rowling's choice.[140] Rowling returned her Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award in August 2020, after RFKHR president Kerry Kennedy called her statements "deeply troubling", "transphobic" and degrading towards transgender people.[141][142][143] Rowling stated that she was "deeply saddened" to be returning the award, reiterating her admiration for Robert Kennedy, but said that no award "means so much to me that I would forfeit the right to follow the dictates of my own conscience."[141]
While expressing empathy towards trans individuals, her comments were labelled as "cruel" and "anti-trans" by media advocacy group GLAAD.[144][145] The fansites MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron have expressed criticism towards Rowling.[146]
A Rowling novel Troubled Blood was published in 2020, receiving criticism for its portrayal of a murderous man who dresses as a woman when killing.[147][148] A spokesperson for the charity Mermaids condemned the novel for "tired tropes" that demonise transgender people by presenting them as a threat.[149] A review in The Guardian stated the character was "just one of many suspects" and he is not "portrayed as trans or even called a 'transvestite' by Rowling."[150]
In September 2020, a letter in support of Rowling, signed by 58 entertainers and authors, including Ian McEwan, actress Frances Barber, playwright Tom Stoppard and actor Griff Rhys Jones, was published in The Sunday Times. The letter condemned the "onslaught of abuse" directed at Rowling on social media, describing such behaviour as an "insidious, authoritarian and misogynistic trend".[151][152] Actor Eddie Redmayne similarly condemned the abuse targeted at Rowling, whilst also condemning the abuse towards transgender people.[153]Genderfluid comedian and actor Eddie Izzard stated that she does not consider Rowling transphobic and encouraged people to read Rowling's work about the topic.[154][125] In an interview with New Statesman, philosopher and gender theorist Judith Butler agreed that Rowling should not be subject to abuse, but urged people to oppose any form of abuse against transgender people.[131]
In a 2021 essay for New Statesman, former British prime minister Tony Blair expressed his belief that Labour could not win if it "looked askance" at Rowling's views on transgender people, calling for open debate on the issue.[155] In his 2021 Netflix stand-up comedy special The Closer, comedian Dave Chappelle expressed support for Rowling, declaring himself "Team TERF".[123] Several US quidditch leagues decided to change the name of the sport to "distance themselves from the works of JK Rowling" because of her comments.[156]
In December 2023 the online New Zealand publication The Spinoff reported that the Auckland War Memorial Museum had cancelled plans to host a Fantastic Beasts exhibit due to several staff members expressing concerns to the management about Rowling's views on transgender people.[157]
Eating disorders
In 2006, Rowling criticised skinny models, describing that their "only function in the world appears to be supporting the trade in overpriced handbags and rat-sized dogs". She condemned societal beauty standards in "this skinny-obsessed world" and magazine covers that feature people who are "either seriously ill or suffering from an eating disorder".[158]
Rowling was criticised both for her comments on underweight people—hoping her daughters would not become "empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones"—and for the portrayal of overweight people in Harry Potter; Rowling responded that Harry Potter characters who are "on the plumper side" include "several of my most important, admirable and lovable characters".[159]
Abortion
In 2017, Rowling expressed her opposition to the Mexico City Policy, which blocked US government support for international organisation that provided abortion counseling, when the policy was reinstated by Donald Trump, and said that she supported abortion rights, especially in underdeveloped countries.[160] In 2022, she said she thinks all women should have the rights to "safe, legal abortion should they wish to terminate a pregnancy" in a statement on X.[161]
Other
Amnesty International
Rowling's employment at Amnesty International made her realise that "imagination is what allows us to empathise with people who have suffered horribly and to act on their behalf." The danger of inaction, Rowling said, comes from people who "prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all."[19]
Environment
Rowling was recognised in 2007 with the Canadian Order of the Forest after demanding that her books be printed on "eco-friendly" papers.[162]
In 2008, Rowling blocked the Finnish publication of her latest Harry Potter novel on paper from Finland because it lacked the ecologically friendly certification she favours.[163]
Literature
Rowling joined others in opposing age banding of children's books, signing a 2008 petition stating that the proposal to impose age-guidance ranges is "ill-conceived, damaging to the interests of young readers and highly unlikely to make the slightest difference to sales".[164]
^Cruz, Juan. "Ser invisible... eso sería lo más". El Pais (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008. Estoy obsesionada con las elecciones en Estados Unidos. Porque tendrá efectos profundos en el resto del mundo. La política exterior de Estados Unidos en los últimos años ha afectado, para mal, tanto a su país como al mío. ... Quiero a un demócrata en la Casa Blanca. Y me parece una lástima que Clinton y Obama tengan que ser rivales porque ambos son extraordinarios.
^ abcColliver, Ben (2021). "Introduction". Re-imagining Hate Crime: Transphobia, Visibility and Victimisation. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 5. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-65714-7_1. ISBN978-3-030-65714-7. J.K. Rowling has published a number of tweets, of which many were challenged, with claims being made that she is reinforcing harmful, transphobic narratives
^Sands, Leo (10 April 2024). "Scotland's hate speech law ignites culture war far outside its borders". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024. In a series of social media posts, which misgendered trans women and mocked their physical appearance, Rowling — who lives in Scotland — wrote that 'freedom of speech and belief are at an end … if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal,' and dared Scottish police to arrest her 'if what I've written here qualifies as an offense.'
^Scott, Katy (3 April 2024). "Yousaf 'not surprised' JK Rowling posts are not criminal". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024. Humza Yousaf said he was "not surprised" police had assessed JK Rowling's online posts challenging the new hate crime law to be non-criminal. The Harry Potter author described several transgender women as men, including convicted prisoners, trans activists and other public figures.
^ abcThorpe, Vanessa (14 June 2020). "JK Rowling: from magic to the heart of a Twitter storm". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020. Arrayed on Rowling's side are some of the veteran voices of feminism, including the radical Julie Bindel, who spoke out in support this weekend: 'Her political position is nothing to do with transgender issues. She has always been a feminist and she has inspired generations of young women and men to look into issues of sex-based discrimination,' she told the Observer.
Schwirblat, Tatiana; Freberg, Karen; Freberg, Laura (2022). "Chapter 21: Cancel culture: a career vulture amongst influencers on social media". In Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris; Freberg, Karen; Luttrell, Regina (eds.). The Emerald Handbook of Computer-Mediated Communication and Social Media. Emerald Publishing Limited. doi:10.1108/978-1-80071-597-420221021. ISBN978-1800715981.
