Angry JK hands back award over trans clash
JK Rowling is to hand back an award associated with the Kennedy family in the US after a furious row over her views on gender.
The Harry Potter author was given the Ripple of Hope honour by the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights organisation last year.
But Kerry Kennedy – daughter of the assassinated politician – said views expressed by Rowling recently diminished “the identity” of trans people.
Dismay
Rowling, 55, hit back, accusing the US activist of “incorrectly” implying she was “transphobic” and “responsible for harm to trans people”.
The award is given to people who have shown a “commitment to social change”.
On receiving it for her work with her children’s charity, Lumos, Rowling said at the time it was “one of the highest honours I’ve ever been given”. She added Robert
Kennedy “embodied everything most admire in a human being”.
But, earlier this month, Kerry Kennedy, a lawyer and president of the organisation, issued a statement describing her “dismay” over “deeply troubling transphobic tweets and statements” made by Rowling.
Announcing her decision to hand back the award in a statement on
Iher website, Rowling said that Kennedy “felt it necessary to publish a statement denouncing my views”.
She said: “The statement incorrectly implied that I was transphobic, and that I am responsible for harm to trans people.
“As a long-standing donor to LGBT charities and a supporter of trans people’s right to live free of persecution, I absolutely refute the accusation that I hate trans people or wish them ill.
“Or that standing up for the rights of women is wrong, discriminatory or incites harm or violence to the trans community.
“In solidarity with those who have contacted me but who are struggling to make their voices heard, and because of the very serious conflict of views between myself and the RFK Human Rights organisation, I feel I have no option but to return the Ripple of Hope Award bestowed upon me last year.
“I am deeply saddened that RFKHR has felt compelled to adopt this stance, but no award or honour, no matter my admiration for the person for whom it was named, means so much to me that I would forfeit the right to follow the dictates of my own conscience.”
In June, Rowling was at the centre of a transgender row after she was criticised over tweets which took issue with the phrase “people who menstruate”.
Rowling objected of the use to of the avoidance the word
“women”. She wrote at the time: “I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them.
“At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.”
Several Harry Potter franchise stars, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Eddie Redmayne, issued statements in support of transgender people after her comments.
Disappointment
Four authors resigned from Rowling’s literary agency after claiming the company refused to publish a statement in support of transgender rights.
Kennedy later joined the growing backlash. She posted a statement online, which read: “I have spoken with JK Rowling to express my profound disappointment she has chosen to use her remarkable gifts to create a narrative that diminishes the identity of trans and non-binary people.”