Fans of Harry Potter have had to come to terms with a lot in recent years. Author J.K. Rowling has shared her transphobic views online, and then, when she received backlash, wrote an essay doubling down on her transphobia to make it clear that she does not consider trans women to be women. Her transphobia is clear and has hurt those in the trans community who looked to the Harry Potter series for guidance. But more than that, her transphobia has led to her fans going on the attack on her behalf and causing a lot of harm towards the trans community.
But now, Rowling is using her platform to, essentially, play the victim. Time and time again, she’s used her platform with 14 million followers to share misinformation on the trans community and weaponize her hatred, and has given others who share her harmful views a figure to idolize.
Rowling took to Twitter to share that she’s been receiving threats because of her transphobic presence online.
Yes, but now hundreds of trans activists have threatened to beat, rape, assassinate and bomb me I’ve realised that this movement poses no risk to women whatsoever. pic.twitter.com/qb1RrCFqy0
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 19, 2021
I don’t condone sending anyone death threats, but the problem with this is that kind of hate, targeted at much more vulnerable people, is exactly what Rowling brings upon others by spreading her anti-trans views. She won’t realize it, though, because she’s using the response to her transphobia as a means of justification. She’s used her 14 million followers and made her own army. There are plenty online who will take it upon themselves to defend Rowling, including making threats just like this, to anyone who challenges the Harry Potter author.
Project manager Nicola Spurling said it best in her tweet about Rowling.
So JK Rowling has had hundreds of threats sent to her because she’s transphobic? Well, I’ve had thousands of threats sent to me because of JK Rowling. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but let’s not forget who started this fight, Jo, and let’s not forget who has the bigger hammer. pic.twitter.com/g0IoZoFArg
— Nicola Spurling (@NicESpurling) July 19, 2021
Rowling hasn’t spoken out once against the threats her own fans send to those who rebuke her transphobia. But Rowling being sent those same threats is her problem? It shouldn’t happen either way, but Rowling, as Spurling pointed out, started the fight by spreading hatred towards a group of individuals because Rowling somehow saw the trans community as a threat.
Maybe she’ll realize she’s in the wrong now that Ben Shapiro is on her side …
This alone should tell JK Rowling she is getting it wrong. pic.twitter.com/1R6HTegUoT
— Edd Jefferson (@EddJefferson) July 20, 2021
No one should receive death threats, but J.K. Rowling using her huge platform to share harmful transphobic rhetoric has done a lot of harm to the trans community, and Rowling needs to recognize that this isn’t a one-sided thing. Her fans attack those in the trans community and those who support the trans community all because Rowling uses her platform with 14 million followers to share hatred, and that’s the truth she doesn’t want to talk about.
(image: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
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