J.K. Rowling is no stranger to causing controversy online. From her bizarre revelations about the Wizarding World on Pottermore to her divisive support for Johnny Depp’s casting as Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts films, the Harry Potter author seems to inadvertently whip up a social media storm with her Twitter behavior on a semi-regular basis.
It’s happened again in the past week, too. Last December, Rowling threw support behind a woman who was fired for espousing anti-trans views. Many felt that this exposed the writer’s own opinions, something backed up by accounts she followed and tweets she’d liked. For instance, on May 15th, Rowling liked a strongly-worded tweet – to put it mildly – from Fred Sargeant, a trans-exclusionary gay activist.
This one got a Like from @jk_rowling today. After my thousand or so re-Likes of her tweet, seems fair. pic.twitter.com/OiZ1ww6YlZ
— Fred Sargeant (@FredSargeant) May 15, 2020
As you can imagine, Rowling liking what many consider to be a highly offensive tweet has caused a new wave of posts from fans who are disappointed in the author for using her platform to spread this kind of message.
https://twitter.com/nicoanjo/status/1263597237566763008
https://twitter.com/spiritushex/status/1262427534018387981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1262427534018387981%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fboundingintocomics.com%2F2020%2F05%2F22%2Fharry-potter-scribe-j-k-rowling-targeted-for-cancellation-again%2F
https://twitter.com/lydblogs/status/1262426169854644226?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1262426169854644226%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fboundingintocomics.com%2F2020%2F05%2F22%2Fharry-potter-scribe-j-k-rowling-targeted-for-cancellation-again%2F
We tried so very hard to give @jk_rowling the benefit of doubt that she harbors anti-trans sentiment, but it's just not possible when she amplifies it with likes & RTs.
We thought the Maya Forstater fallout in Dec. might have changed things but no.
Where do we go from here? pic.twitter.com/SJxtnC4bM5
— Wizarding News™ (@wizardingnews) May 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/CateSpice/status/1263760212558659584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1263760212558659584%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fboundingintocomics.com%2F2020%2F05%2F22%2Fharry-potter-scribe-j-k-rowling-targeted-for-cancellation-again%2F
daily reminder that J.K. Rowling is a transphobic bigot 💅 https://t.co/oUa55rsZWj
— hayley of the pride ⁷ 🐙🐋🇺🇦 (@hayleystjames) May 17, 2020
It can only get worse from here, thought some.
https://twitter.com/CateSpice/status/1263388010793406465
A troubling passage from Rowling’s 2014 novel The Silkworm was once again doing the rounds following this incident.
https://twitter.com/radicalsapphic/status/1263286578316787713
On a lighter note, others are still stuck on that weird revelation about Hogwarts’ lack of bathrooms.
https://twitter.com/EnnisRookBashe/status/1263687203181510656
Let’s all agree that Hermione Granger would not support her creator on this.
she’s getting ready to fight j.k. rowling pic.twitter.com/alIQBvQnIi
— emi (@rajacolby) May 22, 2020
There might be more support for Depp these days, given further details that have come out against Amber Heard, so some may be behind her backing the actor, but Rowling’s apparent transphobic views are unlikely to be forgiven any time soon. Like the tweet above reminds us, though, her creations stand apart from the author, so we can still enjoy the Wizarding World without condoning Rowling’s opinions.
To end on something happier, then, you can watch a variety of stars reading chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone during lockdown every Tuesday.