In the course of the Hogwarts Legacy debate and J.K. Rowling’s anti trans agenda, Twitter user @WilliamDyer82 created a document that summarizes Rowling’s anti-trans statements and actions and lists sources.
The Twitter user @Croticval has created an english version of said document. The document still links to german article, but might get updated in the future.
This document can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bD2rr9nGWB7YAd7EvowMu2NFXIpJspykQoYQI8JquIk/edit
The german version of this post can be found here: https://snitchtrials.blackblogs.org/2023/02/15/dokumentation-zu-j-k-rowlings-transfeindlichkeit/
We are reproducing the content of the document in this blog post and we are updating it along with the document. Thanks to William and all contributors.
The blog post is current as of 02/15/2023
A Documentation about J.K. Rowlings Transphobia
This document covers some of J.K. Rowlings Transphobia. It includes explanations of her transphobic statements and sources. This document was created because the topic kept coming up. Use it in private or in twitter discussions whenever you’re in need of sources or if you just want to learn about the topic.
Introduction
Rowlings transphobia can not be explained in a single example. She is leading a political fight against the interests of trans people by positioning herself against laws and advocacy groups that aim to fight for trans rights. In doing so, she relies on phrases, which deny trans people their identity, put them under general suspicion and support organizations and individuals who also promote discrimination against trans people. All of that is broken down in this document.
The discourse of transphobia often focuses on the question “how many genders are there”, where identification of a person is limited to their genitals. A perspective on gender that has little to do with the social scientific and complex biological reality.
JKR focuses on the “threat” to women by “warning” them that supposed men are invading women’s safe spaces. In doing so, she plays marginalized groups off against each other (but you have to acknowledge the existence of trans* people in order to understand that). If you are stuck to the outdated world view that there are only two genders in biology (male/female), then you will not be able to recognize transphobia either. So aside from the fact that trans people are simply a biological reality, the binary biologistic view that Rowling and other feminists refer to is now unfounded and ultimately serves only to justify transphobia.
J.K. Rowlings Transphobia
Individual evidence (not yet in chronological order)
All of the tweets presented here will be reviewed in the chapter about Rowlings tweets.
- Rowling sets the mood against trans people
Rowling sets off an anti-trans tweet by addressing the problem of counting the person as female when a trans women commits rape and denies them their identity.
J.K. Rowling macht wieder Stimmung gegen trans Frauen – queer.de (german Website)
- Rowling indirectly equated trans women with male sex offenders
J.K. Rowling teilt erneut gegen trans Menschen aus – queer.de (german Website)
- Rowling against Self identification
The prominent author portrays Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon as a “destroyer of women’s rights”.
Rowling macht Stimmung gegen schottisches Selbstbestimmungsgesetz – queer.de (german Website)
- Rowling does perpetrator-victim reversal in her new novel
Rowling’s latest book is causing a stir because of its plot. The book “The Ink Black Heart” is about a young woman who is accused of transphobia and racism. Finally, the cartoonist has to defend herself against hostilities on the internet and is murdered.
J.K. Rowling: Neues Buch handelt von transphober Cartoonistin, die ermordet wird – queer.de (german Website)
- Rowling launches a cis women only resource
Rowling founded an aid organization for female victims of sexual violence – but not
for all women. Because trans women are excluded here.
Transphobie: J.K. Rowling gründet Anlaufstelle ausschließlich für cis Frauen – queer.de (german Website)
- Rowling about Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
Rowling compares hormonal therapy to conversion therapy (which was used to “try” to “cure” homosexuality) and thus frames trans identity as a disease, while saying that trans people are “young homosexual people” which denies trans people their identity and pathologizes them.
J.K. Rowling: Trans-Hormontherapie ist die neue “Homo-Heilung” – queer.de (german website)
- Rowling supports anti-trans activist
Rowling expresses her solidarity with transphobic scientist Maya Forstater, who was denied a contract extension because of her anti-trans statements.
J.K. Rowling: Die Dementorin unter den Feministinnen – DER SPIEGEL (german website)
Feminismus: J. K. Rowling unterstützt transfeindliche Frau (german website)
J.K. Rowling verteidigt Trans-Hasserin – queer.de (german website)
- Rowling criticizes law in favor of trans people
Rowling is involved in an anti-trans smear campaign against Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon and the gender recognition bill in Scotland.
“I stand in solidarity with @ForWomenScot and all women protesting and speaking outside the Scottish parliament. #NoToSelfID”
J.K. Rowling kritisiert Gesetz zugunsten von Transmenschen (german website)
- Rowlings TERF Wars
Rowling Essay
J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues
- Rowling praising Matt Walsh Movie “What is a Woman”
Rowling praised far-right activist Matt Walsh‘s anti-trans film What Is a Woman.
Walsh’s film was produced by Ben Shapiro‘s Daily Wire, a right-wing website that regularly publishes misinformation surrounding climate change, the coronavirus and trans issues.
WELT goes Fox News – Lob für Transfeindlichkeit & “Faschist” Walsh – Volksverpetzer (german website)
Rowling’s Tweets
- Rowling shows solidarity with Maya Forstater
Rowling expresses their solidarity with Maya Forstater, whose contract was not renewed because of anti-trans tweets. Among other things, she wrote, “I’m so surprised that intelligent people I admire, who are staunchly pro-science in other areas, and champions of human rights and women’s rights, contort themselves to avoid having to admit that men can’t just turn into women.”
December 19th, 2019, JKR tweets
- Rowling about “people who menstruate”
June 6th, 2020, JKR tweets
With this statement she denies being a woman to trans women.
- Rowling and the concept of gender
June 7th, 2020, JKR tweets
An absurd claim, because trans women living out their identity does not negate gender per se, nor does anyone’s life history get erased.
- Rowling compares hormone therapy to conversion therapies
July 5th, 2020, JKR tweets
Rowling compares hormone therapy to conversion therapies designed to “treat” trans people.
- Rowling bewirbt transfeindlich Online-Shop
September 22nd, 2020, Rowling tweeted a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt, referring to an online shop.
The shop sells merchandise with anti-trans messages. e.g. “Trans women are men” badges.
- Rowling again with anti-trans women sentiments
The Sunday Times” reports that trans people are recognized by the police – specifically the report was that a “male genital rapist” could allegedly be registered as a woman if he identified his gender as female.
December 12th, 2021, Rowling retweeted the article with “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. The penised person who raped you is a woman.”
- Rowling shares controversial article, indirectly equating trans women with male sex offenders
Shona Robison, politician from Sturgeon’s pro-European separatist party SNP, had tried to allay fears like Dalgety’s in parliament. There is no evidence that male criminals have ever pretended to be a woman in order to sexually abuse other women.
Rowling-backed journalist Dalgety feared in an op-ed piece in The Scotsman that “violent, abusive men” will “exploit” the change in law. By men, she also means the “pedophiles” who “stole her soul.
March 5th, 2022, JKR tweets
- Rowling follows up on the Shona Robison case
March 5th, 2022
- Rowling retweets LGB Alliance
July 9th, 2022, Rowling retweeted an appeal for funds from the LGB Alliance advocacy group opposing the policies of LGBT rights organization Stonewall on transgender issues.
- Rowling praises Walsh movie „What is a Woman”
July 10th, 2022 In her tweet, Rowling praised the anti-trans film “What Is a Woman” by far-right activist Matt Walsh, who describes himself as a “theocratic fascist.”
Walsh’s film was produced by Ben Shapiro‘s Daily Wire, a right-wing website that regularly publishes misinformation surrounding climate change, the coronavirus and trans issues.
- Rowling tweets about self identification
October 6th, 2022, Rowling tweeted against the gender recognition bill: “I stand in solidarity with @ForWomenScot and all women protesting and speaking outside the Scottish Parliament. #NoToSelfID”.
She is wearing a T-shirt that calls Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon a “destroyer of women’s rights”.
- Rowling being provocative again on Twitter
December 12th, 2022, JKR tweets “Merry Terfmas”
Actors distance themselves from Rowling
- Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) distances himself
“Trans women are women. Any statement that contradicts this erases the identity and dignity of trans people,” he wrote on the website of The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to LGBTQ suicide prevention to which Radcliffe donates regularly.
The trigger was a tweet from Rowling. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased.”
Daniel Radcliffe distanziert sich von Harry-Potter-Erfinderin J.K. Rowling – DER SPIEGEL (german website)
- Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander) also distance themselves
Emma Watson tweeted: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”
Eddie Redmayne commented on Variety “I disagree with Jo’s comments. Trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities are just as legitimate. I would never want to speak on behalf of the community, but I know my dear trans friends and colleagues are fed up with the constant questioning of their identity that all too often leads to violence and abuse. They just want to live peacefully and it’s time to let them do that.”
The reason was Rowling’s essay on her website
J.K. Rowling: Auch Eddie Redmayne und Emma Watson auf Distanz – DER SPIEGEL (german website)
jetzt.deHarry Potter Stars kritisieren Joanne K. Rowling für Transfeindlichkeit – LGBTQ – (german website)
Rowlings Pseudonym
- Rowling also goes by the name Robert Galbraith
Rowling had continued writing novels under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith after Harry Potter. For a long time it was unclear who this author was. Rowling later confirmed that this was her alias.
Joanne K. Rowling schreibt Buch unter Pseudonym Robert Galbraith – DER SPIEGEL (german website)
- Who is Robert Galbraith?
Robert Galbraith Heath (May 9, 1915 – September 21, 1999) was an American psychiatrist. He followed the theory of biological psychiatry that organic defects were the sole cause of mental illness and that consequently mental problems were treatable by physical means. He was also an advocate of conversion therapy, which is sometimes still used “to heal” homosexual and transgender patients.
Robert Galbraith Heath – Wikipedia
- Rowling does perpetrator-victim reversal in her new novel
The latest book by British author J.K. Rowling is causing a stir because of its plot: The crime thriller “The Ink Black Heart”, which was released in English on Tuesday, is about a young woman who is accused of transphobia and racism. Finally, the cartoonist has to defend herself against hostilities on the internet and is murdered.
J.K. Rowling: Neues Buch handelt von transphober Cartoonistin, die ermordet wird – queer.de (german website)
- Rowling is writing a novel in which a man in women’s clothing kills
Her 2015 novel Troubled Blood is about a serial killer who kills in women’s clothing. Dennis Creed is a serial killer and rapist. “He has repeatedly fooled his victims by wearing a wig and a pink coat, impersonating a woman or drag to avoid appearing threatening.”
J.K. Rowlings neuer Roman handelt von einem “transvestitischen Serienkiller” – queer.de (german website)
Debatte um „Böses Blut” von J.K. Rowling – “Trans Menschen trifft das besonders” | deutschlandfunkkultur.de (german website)
Organizations/people that Rowling supports
Beira´s Place
- Beira´s Place
Beiras’s Place is a Scotland-based private support service for victims of sexual violence. Founded in 2022 by J.K. Rowling, the organization describes itself as a “women-only ministry”; trans women are not part of the staff or care recipients as they were classified as male at birth.
BBC report on Beira’s Place
JK Rowling funds women-only rape help centre in Edinburgh – BBC News
For Women Scotland
- For Woman Scotland
For Women Scotland (FWS) is an advocacy group in Scotland that opposes the Self-Determination Act. The group believes that both freedom of expression and women’s rights are being attacked in Scotland. The background is that claims and statements by the organization are justiciable under anti-hate speech laws.
In October 2022, Rowling For Women described Scotland as “a grassroots feminist group that in recent years has emerged as a leading voice for Scottish women”. In December 2022, Rowling announced that Susan Smith (co-founder of FWS) would join the Beiras board ´s place.
Also in October 2022, the group organized a protest against the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, at which prominent anti-trans activists acted as speakers. Among them Maya Forstater, Helen Joyce, and Johann Lamont. In support, Rowling tweeted her solidarity with the protesters and wore a t-shirt calling the Prime Minister of Scotland a destroyer of women’s rights and the #NoToSelfID.
For Women Scotland – Wikipedia
- Rowling’s new friends
Breaking down and summarizing Rowling’s connections and associations with anti-trans activists.
Problems with the Harry Potter universe
- 20 Troublesome Things About Harry Potter
There must also be a critical look at the whole universe. Topics covered include: Toxic Relationships, Annoying Girls, Unhealthy Relationships, Bullying, an Unscrutinized Justice System, Slavery, Child Abuse and much more
Harry Potter und 20 problematische Dinge – Alpakawolken (german website)
- Harry Potter: a neo-liberal fairytale
Another critical look at the Harry Potter universe
Neoliberale Märchen: Harry Potter und die reaktionäre Weltsicht von JK Rowling (german website)
- A problematic image of women
The whole universe has a problematic image of women. Because almost all relevant characters that really advance the plot are male.
Harry Potter ist sexistisch: Das Problem mit den Frauenfiguren – DER SPIEGEL (german website)
Problems with Hogwarts Legacy
- Former Lead Designer Troy Leavitt is part of the GamerGate community
Former lead designer Troy Levitt is part of the former GamerGate
community. An anti-feminist community that emerged as part of the #metoo movement in gaming.
Hogwarts Legacy: Lead Designer Troy Leavitt betrieb antifeministischen YouTube-Kanal | Eurogamer.de (german website)
Summary
- Rowling’s perfidious manner
Rowling und die trans Community und wo der Fehler liegt. (german website)
- Summary of Rowling’s transphobia (german)
Aufschlüsselung und Chronologie von Rowlings transfeindlicher Agenda (german website)
- Summary of Rowling’s view (english)
Breaking Down JK Rowling’s Transphobic Essay
- A summary of Rowling’s anti-trans views regarding her essay
J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues
- Essay on Rowling’s transphobia
- Rowling’s new friends
Breaking down and summarizing Rowling’s connections and associations with anti-trans activists.
- Essay on Rowling’s anti-trans novel
Let’s Talk JK Rowling’s Transphobic Book
- Is Hogwarts Legacy transphobic?
Hogwarts Legacy ist transfeindlich? [2023] | FiNessi (german video)
Information material
- Queerphobic codes and Dogwhistle
Symbole und Codes: Queerfeindliche Narrative und Dogwhistles – Belltower.News (german website)
- British government blocks Scotland’s democracy on self-determination bill
„Angriff auf Schottlands Demokratie“: Britische Regierung blockiert Schottland bei Transgender-Reformgesetz (german website)
- Study: Life situations and discrimination experiences of lesbian and gay young people in Germany (Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth)
Lebenssituationen und Diskriminierungserfahrungen von lesbischen und schwulen Jugendlichen in Deutschland (german website)