J. K. Rowling is back in the news cycle.
The Harry Potter author has been interviewed for a new podcast called The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling, which unpacks her rise to success and her complicated legacy following a series of anti-trans comments.
The 57-year-old author sat down with US writer Megan Phelps-Roper, a high-profile former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, at Rowling's home in Edinburgh to discuss it all.
With two episodes of the podcast out now, here are the main points that have everyone talking.
The main takeaways from the podcast with J. K. Rowling.
While the first two episodes of the podcast didn’t directly address the author’s anti-trans comments, Rowling spoke briefly about her legacy in the first episode of the podcast, describing how she has been "misunderstood".
"I never set out to upset anyone. However, I was not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal," she said.
"And what has interested me in the last 10 years and certainly in the last few years, particularly on social media, 'You've ruined your legacy, oh you could have been beloved forever but you chose to say this' and I think you could not have misunderstood me more profoundly.
"I do not walk around my house thinking about my legacy. What a pompous way to live your life walking around thinking about what my legacy will be. Whatever. I'll be dead. I care about now. I care about the living."
The second episode recounted how many groups accused the Harry Potter series of promoting witchcraft to children.
In 2000, J. K. Rowling and her team were forced to evacuate a bookstore during a signing because of a bomb threat by an alleged far-right religious fundamentalist.
Several religious groups were angry with Rowling for the occult symbolism and satanic subtexts in the Harry Potter books. It's an argument she has long fought back on.
How the controversy all started.
For years, Rowling has left a trail of social media breadcrumbs, hinting at her stance on trans issues.
In 2017, she hit the 'like' button on a tweet directing to a Medium article that claimed cisgender women are scared of sharing female-designated spaces with trans women. (Or, in the author's words, "Tell us again how we should willingly get changed next to a stranger with a penis while focusing on ensuring our fearful body language doesn’t make them feel uncomfortable.")
In March 2018, Rowling then 'liked' a tweet that described transgender women as "men in dresses".
The following year, Rowling also tweeted her support for Maya Forstater, a British woman who was fired from her job for tweeting anti-trans statements, including "men cannot change into women".
Rowling then retweeted an article to her 14.5 million followers titled, "Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate".
"'People who menstruate,'" she wrote. "I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
Many Twitter users accused Rowling of transphobia and pointed out how her comment entirely erased the experience of so many people who have periods.
"Not all women menstruate and not all who menstruate are women. There are many girls, non-binary folk, trans boys, and trans men who also get a period," one Twitter user wrote.
"I have endometriosis and an IUD in place to treat it, and therefore, I no longer menstruate," wrote another. "I haven't had a menstrual cycle since early high school, and I'm 21. I guess I'm not a woman anymore?"
But Rowling doubled down.
Rowling's stance has led some advocates to describe her as a TERF: trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
The acronym, which was coined by an Australian writer Viv Smyth in 2008, refers to a vocal group of feminists who argue that the only "real women" are those assigned female at birth. Trans women, in their view, couldn't possibly understand the female experience and shouldn't have access to female-designated spaces.
How the Harry Potter cast reacted to J. K. Rowling's transphobic comments.
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe voiced his criticism of Rowling's statements via The Trevor Project, an organisation that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQIA+ youth.
"Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I," he wrote in a statement on the organisation's website.
Other stars from the Harry Potter film universe also spoke out in support of the trans community, including Emma Watson and Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne.
Redmayne said: "I disagree with Jo's comments. Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid. I would never want to speak on behalf of the community but I do know that my dear transgender friends and colleagues are tired of this constant questioning of their identities, which all too often results in violence and abuse."
Rupert Grint said: "I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers."
Feature Image: Getty.
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Top Comments
Transpeople existing is a scientific fact. Feeling like you are "born in the wrong body" is also a scientific fact. Intersex people exist. Sex and gender are not the same thing, it is a spectrum. Also a scientific fact.