Trans rights are human rights, full-stop.

[rogueslayer452]

It's not news at this point that JKR herself has been revealed to hold transphobic views, although recently she went on a Twitter rampage where if there was any doubt, this truly exposes her blatant transphobia, specifically transmisogyny. Like I said this has been common knowledge for a while now so it's not exactly surprising, just disappointing and incredibly upsetting, especially when you consider the state of the world right now, never mind that it's also Pride Month. So whether it was intentional or not, the timing comes across as suspicious and in bad form, in my opinion. Especially the nature of her responses to people when they call her out, which are so hateful and gross. There's also been recent discussions surrounding the rise of transphobia and TERF rhetoric in the UK which may correlate to and even explain some of JKR's boldness of publicly showcasing her anti-trans stance. Regardless though, it's still absolutely heinous and inexcusable.

In any case, because of this I wanted to recommend this wonderful video that concisely breaks down why these Tweets are not only ridiculous but also harmful. Jamie is trans himself and has not only made several JKR-related videos in the past discussing her transphobia, but also his entire channel is about transgender topics and issues, including his own personal experience in transitioning which is very informative for those looking to get more educated.

Another recommendation is Jessie Gender's video, "J.K. Rowling and Why Death of the Author Doesn't Work", which examines the reasons why, in the case of JKR, we can't really separate the art from the artist because her views and beliefs are placed into her works and it's unavoidable to come across something and be reminded of her particular stances on things.

On another positive note, Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the HP films, has recently given her opinion on this matter by openly supporting the trans community, specifically posting/linking in support of the black trans community. ❤

Comments

[sixphanel.livejournal.com]

It makes me so angry that she won't stop talking about it. Look, woman, if you're going to say things like these... it'd be better if you shut up.

Like, it was bad enough to have her add diversity after the books were written, but this?! THIS? Ugh.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

She's "added" diversity, and yet none of this diversity appears in the movies she's writing...

[sixphanel.livejournal.com]

True, that. It's super easy to say "oh, and by the way, this character, they're --" afterwards. Then, do nothing about it. I found it super annoying before, but now that she's revealed who she really is? I'm seething with rage.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Yeah exactly, or even just say something along the lines of, "it was the 90s and I wasn't the most knowledgeable or educated, in retrospect I wished I could've done more but I promise to learn and do better in the future" and actually write other stories featuring more diversity and inclusion to demonstrate that she is attempting to be better. That would've been much better than retroactively trying to diversify the series and acting like it was progressive all along, which comes across as incredibly performative and not genuine at all.

Ugh. :/

[valeria-sg-1.livejournal.com]

A million times this. People have been calling her out on the issue for a long time now and yet she's still vocal about it.

[sixphanel.livejournal.com]

How she thinks she's right after all this time, when people have been trying to educate her (something she could try to do on her own, tbh) is shocking. *points at icon* MEH, she deserves a "disappointing person award".

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

The sheer audacity of this woman, I cannot.

Her retroactively trying to diversify her books after the fact has been incredibly embarrassing, starting from when she organized that conference to announce that Dumbledore was gay the whole time. It's just performative to get more attention and praise for doing barely anything at all. Along with that and her giving useless tidbits on Twitter that make no sense, to her basically proudly and shamelessly exposing herself to be a transphobe, she essentially ruined her entire legacy. I'm just so done with this woman. I mean, I have been for years now with all the crap she's pulled, but this solidifies it indefinitely.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

I'm so sorry for the trans people that had to read those ridiculous tweets. People have tried to educate her and clearly she hasn't learnt anything.

For trans books, I especially recommend Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans (my post here).

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting that. Both it and her other book Ida look very interesting.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

You're welcome. I'm glad it was useful. :-)

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

:-)

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I know. :( It's so heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, JKR isn't going to learn anything because she doesn't want to learn or educate herself on these things. People can try to do that all they want to, but you can't force someone to learn something when they clearly refuse to. I mean, considering that she has never acknowledged, apologized or corrected her past wrongdoings when people called her out on them, it's not really surprising that she's stubbornly plugging her ears and remaining in ignorance. It's just massively disappointing, especially for a woman of her position who has loads of resources at her fingertips where she can literally do our own damn research and try to better herself and broaden her horizons. She just chooses not to. And that's really telling of her true character, and it's ugly. :/

Thank you for the recommendations! :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

Yes, she's clearly made up her mind and doesn't care at all about what people are telling her.

You're welcome. :-)

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

As someone who took refuge in her books as a child and who is not cishet, this is very saddening and hurtful.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry. :( *hugs*

[awakenyourfaith.livejournal.com]

I feel bad for the trans people who've had to read her tweets. I know I'm outraged, but I can only imagine how they feel!

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's so sad because I know that the HP fanbase is made up of a lot of those within the LGBT community, so it's definitely a huge betrayal. :(

[malicat.livejournal.com]

That she is a TERF became obvious years ago when she followed one of the most known TERFs. The transphobia wasn't *that* in your face yet and she always tried to talk herself out of it but witnessing this full-blown meltdown live on Twitter was truly something else. She showed her true face for reals now. As awful as it is and as sorry as I feel for all the trans people who had to read this (especially younger ones), I'm also kinda glad that she didn't held back anymore. Better it's truly out in the open now!

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Remember when one of her PR people basically tried to do damage control the first time by saying that her liking transphobic tweets was due to a "clumsy, middle-aged moment"? It wasn't even that long ago, either. There is nothing accidental about this, now or back then. She's made it very clear about that.

I'm also kinda glad that she didn't held back anymore. Better it's truly out in the open now!

I'm thinking the same thing, as well. It's horrible that she's not even caring how hurtful she's being, but it would've been even more horrible if she had just remained silent and just been this "wolf in sheep's clothing" kind of thing. At least now there's no question to where she stands. It's better to know when someone is a piece of shit so we can actively ignore them. She has also proven to not listen to anyone about anything, even genuine criticism and people wanting to honestly educate her on things, so it's highly doubtful that she'll change her ways any time soon, if at all.

[malicat.livejournal.com]

Daniel Radcliffe gave a great statement tho,so that's something positive :) In case you haven't seen it yet

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/2020/06/08/daniel-radcliffe-responds-to-j-k-rowlings-tweets-on-gender-identity/

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I saw, and I'm very happy he said something. :)

[icecoldrain.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was no surprise to me either. I've been like wtf JKR for a long time now between her racism and her transphobia, but I guess it took her openly posting about her transphobic views for it to really hit home for a good number of people.

OMG yeah I've been seeing a lot of posts saying ha ha so funny how Harry Potter doesn't have an author and it's like, well, that's not how it works...

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

The thing is that she's never been this overt about her views and beliefs before. Yes, she has exhibited problematic elements in the past, but she never actually has acknowledged or addressed them directly when people were calling her out on such things. Like, her racism and cultural appropriation, for example, or intentionally queerbaiting when it comes to Dumbledore's sexuality. It's always been kind of there in the shadows, but it was mostly just her on the sidelines not saying or doing anything. But this time is very different because while we've known this about her for some time, she's now proudly displaying her transphobia without a care in the world, arguing with people online and even threatening to sue them for saying she's transphobic.

It's not surprising, just utterly baffling that she has sunk this low, and I guess a long time of her remaining silent on so many important issues and things people wanted her to address, the fact that she's taken to Twitter to basically rant about something that is such a non-issue (like, how is inclusive language an attack on womanhood?) really drives home her backwards views and sheds light to her true character to many people.

OMG yeah I've been seeing a lot of posts saying ha ha so funny how Harry Potter doesn't have an author and it's like, well, that's not how it works...

Yeah, like, I get that it's become a meme at this point but that's now how we should conduct ourselves in this situation. Most things we consume in media will most likely have creators with questionable views and beliefs, we can acknowledge that while also acknowledging that we can still enjoy the work they created without forgetting that yes, it was them that created it. Their questionable views/beliefs may have bled into their works, and we need to approach it with a critical eye. I love the HP series, but I acknowledge that it has many, many flaws, much of it due to JKR's questionable views, and it's important to address that as fans and further examine that to understand it.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

The author George Saunders said it best when he was here in Buffalo for the BABEL lecture series last year. He said that being racist is like having shit on your shirt. "You don't say, 'Oh, it's just a little bit of shit, don't be so PC.'" That applies to homophobia, sexism and transphobia, too.