Harry Potter author JK Rowling claims that not everyone is after her for her transgender comments. According to Rowling, there were Harry Potter fans who sided with her when she shared a controversial tweet back in 2019.
Rowling appeared in the latest episode of The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling podcast, where she weighed in about the tweets that caused a storm amongst her followers. To recap, the famous author posted a tweet on Dec. 19, where she showed her support for Maya Forstater. According to The Guardian, Forstater was a researcher who lost her job due to her gender beliefs, claiming that “transgender women could not change their biological sex.”
Rowling posted a tweet that supported the researcher. But at the same time, people viewed Rowling’s entire tweet as “transphobic,” especially the first few lines.
In the podcast, Rowling revealed that she knew what she was going to tweet will cause an uproar amongst her followers. She knew that if she kept quiet, it would have made things safer for her. But after sharing her views, the author knew things would become much more dangerous for her and expected that many people wouldn’t be happy with her.
“I absoluteley knew that if I spoke out, many people who have loved my books would be deeply unhappy with me. I knew that.
“I knew because I knew that I could see that they believe they’re living the values that I dispouse in those books. I could tell that they believed that they were fighting for underdogs, indifference, and fairness. And I thought “it would be easier not to. You know this could be really bad.” And honestly, it has been bad. Personally, it has not been fun and I have been scared at times for my own safety and, overwhelmingly, for my family’s safety.
And as the author continues to share her views about gender and sexuality, it caused a much greater divide between her and her followers. Especially those in the LGBTQ+ community. However, Rowling revealed that there were Potterheads who showed support after the initial tweet. She also claimed that fans were grateful for what she said.
While it’s currently unknown how many people detracted from Rowling compared to the support she’s received, the 2019 tweet managed to accumulate over 283 thousand likes, 75.6 retweets, and 37.2k quote retweets. The podcast also revealed that she’s received tons of support emails on her “fan mail” account, especially from those who were afraid to voice their views online due to backlash.
“A ton of Potter fans were still with me. And, in fact, a ton of Potter fans were grateful that I said for what I said.”
While Rowling is aware of how dangerous it was to voice her views, she still believes that “this movement” has to be challenged. She’s willing to wait to see if her views were wrong all along, and claims to have listened to the “other side.” But in the end, she still chose to voice her views and will continue to stand by them.
“Time will tell whether I’ve got this wrong. I can only say that I’ve thought about it deeply and hard and long. And I’ve listened and promised to the other side. And I believe absolutely that there is something dangerous about this movement and it must be challenged…
“… I stand by every word that I wrote there, but the question is, What is the truth? And I’m arguing against people who are literally saying sex is a construct.”
Following the infamous 2019 tweet, Rowling released a blog post on her website which explained more about her views and why she spoke out about her tweet. According to her blog, she expected to be canceled by the general public but ended up receiving an “overwhelming” amount of support and positivity from her fanbase.
Since Rowling voiced her views, there has been a divide between fans and those who were involved in the Harry Potter films. Actors such as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have voiced their thoughts, showing their support for the LGBT+ community. Meanwhile, other actors either abstained from saying anything or came to Rowling’s defense.
Due to the disproval of Rowling’s views, there were calls to boycott Hogwarts Legacy due to allegations that Rowling funded money to UK politicians to fund ‘anti-trans’ laws, and to show that Rowling is in the wrong. However, the game ended up becoming the most pre-ordered game on Steam and was the most streamed game on Twitched at launch.
