Transgender tweet defended by ‘abuse survivor’ Rowling
JK ROWLING has responded to criticism surrounding her comments about transgender people in a lengthy blog post on her website in which she said she was a sexual assault and domestic abuse survivor.
The Harry Potter author said one of the reasons which motivated her to speak about the issue was her experience of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
She wrote: “I’ve been in the public eye now for over 20 years and have never talked publicly about being a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor.
“This isn’t because I’m ashamed those things happened to me, but because they’re traumatic to revisit and remember. I also feel protective of my daughter from my first marriage.
“I didn’t want to claim sole ownership of a story that belongs to her, too. However, a short while ago, I asked her how she’d feel if I were publicly honest about that part of my life and she encouraged me to go ahead.
“I’m mentioning these things now not in an attempt to garner sympathy, but out of solidarity with the huge numbers of women who have histories like mine, who’ve been slurred as bigots for having concerns around single-sex spaces.”
Rowling attracted criticism for tweets posted over the weekend. She took issue with a headline on an online article discussing “people who menstruate,” and said: “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Critics accused her of being transphobic, an allegation which Rowling strongly denies. In December she voiced her support for a researcher sacked after tweeting that transgender people cannot change their biological sex.