Topics: News, JK Rowling, Harry Potter, Books, LGBTQ
JK Rowling’s new novel features the story of a woman who is killed after being accused of transphobia.
Despite being denounced after writing a series of transphobic tweets in 2020, Rowling maintains that the storyline is merely a coincidence and she wasn’t drawing from her own experiences.
“I had written the book before certain things happened to me online,” she explained to Graham Norton.
“I said to my husband, ‘I think everyone is going to see this as a response to what happened to me,’ but it genuinely wasn’t.
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"The first draft of the book was finished at the point certain things happened.”
Rolling Stone reports that The Ink Black Heart follows cartoon creator Edie Ledwell who is persecuted by her fandom, who believe her content is transphobic and racist.
Hmmm, this sounds awfully familiar.
The billionaire author attracted similar backlash when she fired off a series of tweets that were quickly deemed problematic.
In June of 2020, she wrote: "If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.
If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
"It isn't hate to speak the truth. The idea that women like me, who've been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they're vulnerable in the same way as women-i.e., to male violence-'hate' trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences-is a nonsense."
Following her remarks, Daniel Radcliffe issued a statement via The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention non-profit for LGBT youth.
He wrote in part: “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 [Rowling] or I.”
In the same interview with Graham Norton, the Irish talk-show host asked Rowling if she still was in touch with any Harry Potter actors despite several cast mates condemning her comments.
She replied: “Yes, I do. I mean some more than others, but that was always the case. Some I knew better than others.”
However, she remained very tight-lipped on which actors she still speaks to.
We’re guessing we won’t see Radcliffe at her upcoming book launch.
