Although the “Harry Potter” series was once considered holy text by the anti-Donald Trump “resistance,” its author, J.K. Rowling, has been under fire by progressives for her “trans-exclusive” language and for her sins against modern gender theory.
Back in December, Rowling was “canceled” online for daring to note that biological sex “is real” and coming to the defense of university professor Maya Forstater, who was stripped of her job after “tweeting that a person cannot change their biological sex,” The Daily Wire reported at the time.
Now, Rowling is in trouble again after she “liked” a tweet about a Welsh trans woman whom a writer referred to as “an adult human male who claims to be a lesbian.”
LGBTQ Nation reports that Rowling liked a tweet by “anti-transgender activist Fred Sargeant,” a writer who objects to the idea that anyone can somehow change their biological sex, and believes that male-to-female transgender individuals cannot be “oppressed” because they are born biologically male and made a choice to exit the Patriarchy.
Sargeant tweeted about a transgender activist named Alex Drummond and described Drummond’s lack of biological transition in great detail, adding that Drummond, who considers themselves a woman attracted to other women (so, technically, a lesbian), “believes that real lesbians who aren’t into penises are transphobic and should be excluded from the lesbian community.”
Sargeant later crowed that the tweet had received a “like” from Rowling, setting off the progressive social media chorus.
Rowling, many progressives and gender activists believe, is a “TERF” or “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” — a brand of activist that has cropped up more in Europe than in the United States, but which fights back against the idea that gender is fluid or non-existent, a theory they believe to be a threat to the crusade for women’s rights. If gender is merely a “social construct,” then the goals of feminism are and were imaginary and feminists’ achievements were in vain.
Back in December, in support of Maya Forstater, Rowling tweeted, “Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill”
Rowling was quickly derided as a bigot, and legions of Harry Potter fans took to Twitter to excoriate Rowling for her personal beliefs (though it’s not entirely clear what Rowling’s personal beliefs actually are, given that she’s never called herself a “TERF” or spoken out directly on the subject of gender). Some even called for a boycott of the Harry Potter books. Celebrities who made the mistake of “liking” Rowling’s offending tweet were even, themselves, made to apologize.
Rowling has not issued a statement on the subject. In the past, her publicist has said that Rowling “likes” things on Twitter by mistake.
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