Image Credit: Disney
Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
JK Rowling

J.K. Rowling Returns Human Rights Award After Being Called Out For Transphobia

Last December, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling received the Ripple of Hope award from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization. The award is intended to recognize people who have demonstrated a "commitment to social change." Rowling proudly accepted, calling it "one of the highest honours I've ever been given" and praising Robert F. Kennedy for embodying "everything I most admire in a human being."
This article is over 4 years old and may contain outdated information

Last December, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling received the Ripple of Hope award from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization. The award is intended to recognize people who have demonstrated a “commitment to social change.” Rowling proudly accepted, calling it “one of the highest honours I’ve ever been given” and praising Robert F. Kennedy for embodying “everything I most admire in a human being.”

Recommended Videos

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO “THEY SAID WHAT!?” OUR NEWSLETTER ON THE DUMBEST HEADLINES IN POLITICS THIS WEEK

Now, however, the author has sent back the award after being called out by the organization’s president Kerry Kennedy about her notorious transphobic comments earlier this year. Kennedy said:

I have spoken with J.K. Rowling to express my profound disappointment that she has chosen to use her remarkable gifts to create a narrative that diminishes the identity of trans and nonbinary people, undermining the validity and integrity of the entire transgender community—one that disproportionately suffers from violence, discrimination, harassment, and exclusion and, as a result, experiences high rates of suicide, suicide attempts, homelessness, and mental and bodily harm. Black trans women and trans youth in particular are targeted.

She concluded that:

Trans rights are human rights. J.K. Rowling’s attacks upon the transgender community are inconsistent with the fundamental beliefs and values of RFK Human Rights and represent a repudiation of my father’s vision.

Rowling shot back with her own statement, in which she claims she gave money to LGBTQ charities so can’t be transphobic, that lots of people wrote her letters saying she’s totally right about everything, and provided a link to a website with a big donate button on it run by a group of doctors whose names only seem to show up on right-wing sites. Funny that.

It remains to be seen how much long term damage Rowling’s comments will do to her career, but perhaps one taster comes from the upcoming Harry Potter video game being developed by Avalanche Software. One of the selling points of the title is that Rowling has “very little direct involvement” with the project, which may be a hint that if she continues to trash her reputation, Warner Bros. will begin gently separating the author from her creation. J.K. Rowling shows no signs of admitting she’s wrong, either, so I expect this story to run and run.


We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of David James
David James
I'm a writer/editor who's been at the site since 2015. Love writing about video games and will crawl over broken glass to write about anything related to Hideo Kojima. But am happy to write about anything and everything, so long as it's interesting!