“Harry Potter” creator J. K. Rowling announced Monday that threats, bullying, and even activists revealing her home address would not deter her from defending women’s sex-based rights.
Last Friday, my family’s address was posted on Twitter by three activist actors who took pictures of themselves in front of our house, carefully positioning themselves to ensure that our address was visible. 1/8
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 22, 2021
“Last Friday, my family’s address was posted on Twitter by three activist actors who took pictures of themselves in front of our house, carefully positioning themselves to ensure that our address was visible,” Rowling tweeted early Monday.
The acclaimed author followed that with a message of thanks to Twitter Support, all the fans who had reported the image, and Scottish law enforcement — all of whom had worked together to report and manage the situation. She also asked that anyone who had retweeted the image, even if they had done so in an effort to call out those who had initially posted and shared it, delete it since the address was still visible in the photos.
Rowling then pivoted to address the broader situation, noting that while she was certainly a visible target for such activists, she was not the only target.
Over the last few years I’ve watched, appalled, as women like Allison Bailey, Raquel Sanchez, Marion Miller, Rosie Duffield, Joanna Cherry, Julie Bindel, Rosa Freedman, Kathleen Stock and many, many others, including women who have no public profile 4/8
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 22, 2021
“Over the last few years I’ve watched, appalled, as women like Allison Bailey, Raquel Sanchez, Marion Miller, Rosie Duffield, Joanna Cherry, Julie Bindel, Rosa Freedman, Kathleen Stock and many, many others, including women who have no public profile,” she continued, “But who’ve contacted me to relate their experiences, have been subject to campaigns of intimidation which range from being hounded on social media, the targeting of their employers, all the way up to doxing and direct threats of violence, including rape.”
“None of these women are protected in the way I am. They and their families have been put into a state of fear and distress for no other reason than that they refuse to uncritically accept that the socio-political concept of gender identity should replace that of sex,” Rowling added.
The author concluded by calling out the three who had posted the initial photo and saying that she would not allow their actions to intimidate her.
“I have to assume that @IAmGeorgiaFrost, @hollywstars and @Richard_Energy_ thought doxxing me would intimidate me out of speaking up for women’s sex-based rights. They should have reflected on the fact that I’ve now received so many death threats I could paper the house with them, and I haven’t stopped speaking out,” Rowling said. “Perhaps – and I’m just throwing this out there – the best way to prove your movement isn’t a threat to women, is to stop stalking, harassing and threatening us.”
Rowling, who has often run afoul of transgender rights activists, has been a vocal advocate for biological women in part because of her own history as a victim of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
She defended her position in a 2020 essay addressing the dangers of allowing trans rights to supersede women’s rights. “When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is a simple truth,” she wrote.
Activists have labeled Rowling — along with any others who defend the rights and safety of biological females — as TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists).