JK Rowling regrets not having spoken out about transgender issues sooner
According to the 'Harry Potter' author, who has been engulfed in controversy since 2018, she did not speak out before about the trans movement because those close to her "begged her not to speak” about it.
J.K Rowling (AFP).
(AFP / VOZ MEDIA) Author JK Rowling, known for her "Harry Potter” books, revealed on Wednesday that she regrets not having spoken out "earlier" about transgender issues, despite the accusations of transphobia against her, in an article in The Times.
Rowling, 58, who lives in the Scottish city of Edinburgh, has been engulfed in controversy since 2018, after exposing that women's rights may be threatened by certain claims of transgender people.
"Ultimately, I spoke up because I’d have felt ashamed for the rest of my days if I hadn’t. If I feel any regret at all, it’s that I didn’t speak far sooner," she writes in an excerpt from the collection of texts "The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht," which includes essays by several Scottish women.
The author explains that she came to believe that "the socio-political movement insisting ‘trans women are women’ was neither kind nor tolerant, but in fact profoundly misogynistic, regressive, dangerous in some of its objectives and nakedly authoritarian in its tactics."
JK Rowling claims that those close to her "begged her not to speak" about the transgender movement
Rowling said that at first she followed this fight from afar, as those close to her "begged her not to speak" about it but that she was determined to make her thoughts known.
Although she denies being transphobic, the controversies sparked by her positions have for some tarnished the aura she had achieved as a writer of modest origins who enjoyed global success. Her Harry Potter books sold more than 600 million copies worldwide.
The author has encountered calls for a boycott, such as in 2023 during the launch of a video game inspired by Harry Potter titled "Hogwards Legacy."
Actor Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the movie version, was one of those who publicly disassociated himself from her.
In early May, Radcliffe said his fight with Rowling was "really sad."
Referring to these controversies, JK Rowling states that "Nobody who’s been through an online monstering or a tsunami of death and rape threats will claim it’s fun," also criticizing the lack of "critical thinking" on transgender issues.
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