On August 30, 2022, the book “The Ink Black Heart” (The Ink Black Heart), a crime novel written by Robert Galbraith – the name of the author JK Rowling’s periodical – was published.
It may be unnecessary to introduce JK Rowling, but a few words nonetheless. Of course, she became famous thanks to the Harry Potter series of books that were a resounding international success, sold millions of copies and were adapted into eight equally successful films.
I started reading the Harry Potter book series quite by accident, when the first book came out, and like many others I fell in love – with the characters, the world, the story. Everything was good and beautiful. Then, in 2018, Rowling liked a tweet that claimed transgender women were “men in dresses,” and then Rowling’s spokesperson tried to excuse it by holding her phone upside down, oh well, nice but awkward attempt. Why? Because from here Rowling’s transphobia only got stronger.
When the first Harry Potter came out I fell in love, like many others, with the characters, the world, the story. Everything was good and beautiful. Then Rowling liked a tweet that claimed transgender women were “men in dresses”
On December 19, 2019, Rowling tweeted and expressed support for Maya Forstetter. Starting in 2015, Maya Forstetter worked as a consultant for a body called the “Center for Global Development”, and during discussions about possible changes to the “Gender Recognition Act” that has existed in the UK since 2005 and allows people who feel gender dysphoric to legally change their gender, Forstetter tweeted that “men cannot change into women”.
Following this tweet and others, Forstetter’s employment contract at the Center for Global Development was not renewed. Forstetter of course sued and eventually won, with the judge claiming that Forstetter’s views were protected under the British Equality Act.
Rowling’s very support of Forstetter was actually support for Forstetter’s views, and in fact Rowling’s statement that she does not recognize gender change.
It doesn’t end there. In June 2020, Rowling criticized the use of the phrase “menstruating people” instead of the word women, even tweeting, “If sex is not real, there is no same-sex attraction. If sex is not real, the reality of women around the world is erased.”
The problem here is of course that for some reason Rowling thinks that the existence of transgender women cancels the existence of women in space. Later, probably in an attempt to soften the tweet, Rowling added that she is “empathetic to trans people”. In fact, Rowling distorted in her words concepts related to the differences between gender and sex and was called again, anti-trans.
At this point, other celebrities also began to respond and, unlike Rowling, expressed their support for transgender and transgender rights, especially the actors who played the main characters in the Harry Potter films – Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint (Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, adaptation).
At this point, other celebrities also began to respond and, unlike Rowling, expressed their support for transgender and transgender rights, especially the actors who played the main characters in the Harry Potter films
Radcliffe expressed his opinion in an article published by the Trevor Project in which he wrote: “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all the advice given by professional health associations who have far more expertise on the subject than Joe O. I am”.
JK Rowling is of course a very well-known and influential figure, And every word of hers reaches millions of people and provokes either opposition, or support, and in any case, her views are spread on a massive scale. The highlight is what happened in the last month with the release of Rowling’s new book, “The Black Heart”.
The book revolves around Eddie Ladwell, a creator of popular YouTube videos. After the videos receive criticism claiming they are racist and transphobic, viewers begin to turn their backs and even attack Ledwell, until finally she is murdered by a transgender character.
Many have argued that Rowling actually wrote the book based on her experience on the Internet in recent years, but she continues to assert strongly that the book was written before her. And if that’s not enough, Rowling’s responses in general to complaints about her transphobia have a strong whiff of lack of awareness.
Rowling, as mentioned, is one of the most influential and richest women in the world, a cisgender white woman, and she sees herself as a victim of one of the weakest communities in the world.
Rowling’s comments have a strong whiff of unconsciousness. She is one of the most influential and richest women in the world, a cisgender white woman, and she sees herself as a victim of one of the weakest communities in the world
What’s more, the whole plot line in which a transgender woman kills in the book only does more and more damage to transgender men and women in the world, who are already suffering and suffering from many prejudices, and if anything, the opposite is what is really happening in the world: in most cases it is the transgender men and women that are murdered and murdered and not the other way around.
Couldn’t the opposite be the case? Certainly yes, but statistically much less. What’s more, in the context of Rowling’s slew of statements over the past few years about transgenderism and transgenderism, this storyline doesn’t look good, to say the least.
And if all of that isn’t enough, then it sure doesn’t help when one of the most hated people today by almost the entire world stands by your side. In March of this year, Vladimir Putin compared his position, and the “attempt of the West to abolish Russia” as the same as the attempt of progressive Westerners “to abolish Rowling because she does not fit their progressive values”.
This story with Rowling sucks, because really Harry Potter is a wonderful work in my eyes. Should I now boycott everything related to Rowling and Harry Potter? I don’t know, but I noticed that I actively, even without thinking about it too much, do exactly that.
It is important for me to emphasize, in everything that is said here there is no intention to encourage bullying, harassment or defamation of Rowling. Everything written here is in response to her views as she expressed them, which to me as mentioned are shocking. But we are trying to create a world where everyone will accept everyone as they are or as they see themselves. Violence in any form, whether verbal, virtual or for heaven’s sake physical, is not the way or the solution in any way.
I really don’t agree with Rowling, but I don’t think for one moment to hurt her. I can say, however, that in the case of Harry Potter, the magic has worn off a bit.