After seeing a social media post that had called for charging J.K. Rowling with “attempted murder” for “misgendering” people identifying as transgender, Rowling fired back by using a classic children’s fictional character to characterize the attack, drawing a laugh from X CEO Elon Musk.
A woman named Hazel Appleyard, who has spoken of her own journey through rapid gender dysphoria as a teenager which initially led her to believe she was a boy and consider transitioning before she eventually concluded she was, in fact, a girl, mocked a social media post that stated:
Every time you misgender a trans person, you put them at risk of being a victim of suicide or murder. Just as JK Rowling would be charged with attempted murder if she fired a gun at a trans woman since the projectile in question is potentially lethal, she should be charged with attempted murder for firing such language at trans women because the language in question is potentially lethal.
“Why are they so completely unhinged? @jk_rowling lawyers at the ready again,” Appleyard responded to the post she had shared.
Why are they completely unhinged? 😂@jk_rowling lawyers at the ready again 😂 pic.twitter.com/FHYzfLhzlN
— Hazel Appleyard (@HazelAppleyard_) March 12, 2024
“Tinkerbell Syndrome: the conviction that unless all women, everywhere, believe a man is a woman, he will die,” Rowling, who has challenged the trans agenda for years and been vilified by members of that community, responded.
Tinkerbell Syndrome: the conviction that unless all women, everywhere, believe a man is a woman, he will die.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 12, 2024
That rejoinder prompted Musk to laugh.
🤣🤣
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 12, 2024
Tinker Bell, the fairy in J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan” who is Peter’s helpful friend, is also shown as sometimes being jealous, vindictive, and grouchy. In the original play, Tinker Bell comes close to death after drinking poison intended for Peter by Captain Hook and is brought back to life after Peter begs the audience to clap their hands if they do believe in fairies.
In early March, India Willoughby, a man who identifies as a woman, called the police because Rowling had referred to him as a man, saying, “I’ve been to the police and I’ve reported it as an issue. I don’t know if that’s going to be treated as a hate crime or malicious communications, but it’s a cut-and-dried offense as far as I’m concerned, and at the end of the day it is a hate crime.”
Rowling fired back, “Some time ago, lawyers advised me that not only did I have a clearly winnable case against India Willoughby for defamation, but that India’s obsessive targeting of me over the past few years may meet the legal threshold for harassment. I ignored this advice because I couldn’t be bothered giving India the publicity he so clearly craves. Nevertheless, we must all do our bit to combat hate, so India will be glad to know I’ve taken note of his homophobia, racism, and humane stance on immigration.”
I ignored this advice because I couldn't be bothered giving India the publicity he so clearly craves. Nevertheless, we must all do our bit to combat hate, so India will be glad to know I've taken note of his homophobia, racism, and humane stance on immigration. 2/5 pic.twitter.com/ULoYrRGfez
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 6, 2024
“Nor have I forgotten India’s shocking transphobia,” Rowling continued. “It appears to have slipped what passes for India’s mind that he’s previously called a fellow trans woman a man on this very site. Surprisingly for such an eminent legal authority, he appears to have forgotten that the Forstater ruling established that gender critical views can be protected in law as a philosophical belief. No law compels anyone to pretend to believe that India is a woman.”
Surprisingly for such an eminent legal authority, he appears to have forgotten that the Forstater ruling established that gender critical views can be protected in law as a philosophical belief. No law compels anyone to pretend to believe that India is a woman. 4/5
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 6, 2024
Related: Trans Activist Calls Cops On JK Rowling For ‘Hate Crime’ Of Calling Him A Man