While J.K. Rowling built up an incredible fanbase following the success of her Harry Potter novels and their subsequent film adaptations, many fans have become alienated after Rowling continually suggested she was transphobic with her social media posts. Now it appears she’s at it yet again, this time further offending individuals after making what has been considered by many to be a transphobic series of opinions regarding hormone therapy and physical surgery.
As some of you might already know, the issues first really started after J.K. Rowling shared an article on her Twitter profile titled “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate,” and made a rather insensitive remark as a comment. She stated the following:
“People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Obviously a comment like that received plenty of backlash, with many individuals calling out Rowling for her transphobic opinions. Nevertheless, she still attempted to defend the comment by insisting she still stands for the trans community. She then followed her defense, however, by saying she’s been contacted by women that are “justifiably terrified by the trans activists.”
Now, more recently, she continued her Twitter remarks with posts regarding her disapproval for hormone therapy and that it comes with a variety of issues for those who take it. Rowling then says that trans-activists usually tend to ignore these issues, further insinuating that she happens to be transphobic. She also discussed how physical surgery can be bad for those who decide to receive such operations. It’s all spelled out in the below thread, which you can view by accessing the entire Twitter post.
I've ignored fake tweets attributed to me and RTed widely. I've ignored porn tweeted at children on a thread about their art. I've ignored death and rape threats. I'm not going to ignore this. 1/11 pic.twitter.com/hfSaGR2UVa
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 5, 2020
It’s unknown just how far Rowling’s comments will continue to degrade her reputation, but at this rate she’s losing a large portion of her fanbase. In fact, many of the Harry Potter film stars have been speaking out against Rowling and insisted that fans shouldn’t let her views tarnish the way they see the franchise.
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how far Rowling continues to take her thoughts and how the fanbase will react if she refuses to stop. After all, something has to give at some point. And with cancel culture the way it is, it’s likely going to be Rowling.