Fans of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling are expressing their disappointment today. Rowling liked (and therefore promoted) a transphobic tweet which ridiculed trans women as “men in dresses”.
The tweet
It all started with trans writer and Harry Potter fan Shon Faye. Faye is frequently trolled with transphobic abuse, and was stunned to see Rowling had liked one such tweet.
https://twitter.com/shonfaye/status/976470639790915585
Soon, others began to pick up on the issue. They included prominent anti-austerity writer Jack Monroe.
https://twitter.com/BootstrapCook/status/976473770406957056
As news of the tweet spread, so did sadness with Rowling’s decision.
Harry Potter author @JK_Rowling who has received backlash in the past for supporting alleged abuser Johnny Depp has just liked a tweet referring to trans women as “men in dresses” pic.twitter.com/l4Su9Oa76Y
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 21, 2018
Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it’s the never ending downward trajectory of my opinion of JK Rowling https://t.co/C67IP8flQa
— Grace Petrie (@gracepetrie) March 21, 2018
Meanwhile, the account that posted the original tweet spent much of the day trying to fire up the transphobia.
What is J.K. Rowling doing liking a transphobic tweet?
Well, the working theory is complex and sad.
So the first thing to know is that Rowling is very unhappy that Jeremy Corbyn won the Labour leadership contest.
https://twitter.com/alexnunns/status/975392016690540546
Secondly, since welcoming transwomen onto its all-women shortlists, the Labour Party has been taking flack from anti-trans activists. It is a common transphobic view that there are two genders, men and women, and whichever a person is assigned at birth is the final say. The progressive view (and science) argues that the situation isn’t quite so black and white, and pretending it is does a lot of harm to trans people. A recent survey found that eight out of 10 trans young people have self-harmed, and almost half have attempted suicide.
These two seemingly separate issues have now converged. As some bystanders pointed out, those who dislike the leftward swing of Labour have seemed happy to throw trans people under the bus to score points. And it looks like J.K. Rowling may be among them.
Reminder that billionaire @jk_rowling is so mad that Corbyn would raise her taxes that she would rather ally with TERFs and Tories than the left.https://t.co/LP8QJXKUoX
— Woke Mind Cyrus the Virus (@lightfantastic) March 21, 2018
Double standards
What is particularly disappointing here is the lack of good faith. Rowling has repeatedly accused Jeremy Corbyn and supporters of intolerance and abuse. Yet she seems happy to promote the transphobic views of a Twitter troll so long as it helps undermine the left. Like I said, complex and sad.
Get Involved!
– If you are a trans/trans-curious person seeking support, go to LGBT Consortium for more information.
– Support the Stop Funding Hate campaign. Demand that advertisers withdraw funding from newspapers and websites that promote hate speech.
– Support the work of Hope Not Hate.
– Join The Canary, so we can keep holding the powerful to account.
– Read and support other independent media outlets:
Media Diversified, Novara Media, Corporate Watch, Red Pepper, New Internationalist, Common Space, Media Lens, Bella Caledonia, Vox Political, Evolve Politics, Real Media, Reel News, STRIKE! magazine, The Bristol Cable, The Meteor, The Skwawkbox, Salford Star, The Ferret.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
