In Defense of J. K. Rowling
“Trans people need and deserve protection.”
“I believe the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others but are vulnerable.”
“I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them.”
“I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men.”
These statements were written by J. K. Rowling, the author of the “Harry Potter” series, a human-rights activist and — according to a noisy fringe of the internet and a number of powerful transgender rights activists and L.G.B.T.Q. lobbying groups — a transphobe.
Even Rowling’s fans have made this accusation. In 2020, The Leaky Cauldron, one of the biggest “Harry Potter” fan sites, claimed that Rowling had endorsed “harmful and disproven beliefs about what it means to be a transgender person,” letting members know it would avoid featuring quotes from and photos of the author.
Other critics have advocated that bookstores pull her books, and some have done so. She has also been subjected to verbal abuse and threats of sexual and other physical violence, including death threats.
Now, in rare and wide-ranging interviews for the podcast series “The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling,” Rowling is sharing her experiences. “I have had direct threats of violence, and I have had people coming to my house where my kids live, and I’ve had my address posted online,” she says in one of the interviews. “I’ve had what the police, anyway, would regard as credible threats.”
This campaign against Rowling is dangerous. The brutal stabbing of Salman Rushdie last summer is a forceful reminder of what can happen when writers are demonized. And in Rowling’s case, the characterization of her as a transphobe does not square with her actual views.
So why would anyone accuse her of transphobia? Surely, Rowling must have played some part, you might think.
The answer is straightforward: Because she has asserted the right to spaces for biological women only, such as domestic abuse shelters.
Because she has insisted that when it comes to determining a person’s legal gender status, self-declared gender identity is insufficient. Because she has defended herself and, far more important, supported others, including detransitioners and feminist scholars, who have come under attack from trans activists. And because she praised work of Magdalen Berns, a lesbian feminist who had made incendiary comments about transgender people.
You might disagree with Rowling’s views. But nothing Rowling has said qualifies as transphobic. She is not disputing the existence of gender dysphoria. She has never voiced opposition to allowing people to transition under evidence-based therapeutic and medical care. She is not denying transgender people equal pay or housing. There is no evidence that she is putting trans people “in danger,” as claimed, nor is she denying their right to exist.
Take it from one of her former critics. E. J. Rosetta, a journalist who once denounced Rowling for her supposed transphobia, was commissioned last year to write an article called “20 Transphobic J. K. Rowling Quotes We’re Done With.” After 12 weeks of reporting and reading, Rosetta wrote, “I’ve not found a single truly transphobic message.” On Twitter she declared, “You’re burning the wrong witch.”
For the record, I, too, read all of Rowling’s books, including the crime novels written under the pen name Robert Galbraith, and came up empty. Those who have parsed her work for transgressions have objected to the fact that in one of her Galbraith novels, she included a transgender character, and that in another of these novels, a killer disguises himself by dressing as a woman.
For years, books in the “Harry Potter” series were among the most banned in America. Many Christians denounced the books’ positive depiction of witchcraft and magic. Megan Phelps-Roper, the author of “Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving Extremism,” says that raised in a family notorious for its extremism and bigotry, she was taught to believe Rowling was going to hell over her support for gay rights.
Phelps-Roper is now the host of “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling.” The podcast, based on nine hours of her interviews with Rowling, explores why Rowling has been subjected to such vitriol despite a body of work that embraces the virtues of being an outsider.
The podcast, which also includes interviews with critics of Rowling, delves into why Rowling has used her platform to challenge certain claims of so-called gender ideology — such as the idea that transgender women should be treated as indistinguishable from biological women. Why, both her fans and her fiercest critics have asked, would she bother to take such a stand, knowing that attacks would ensue?
“The pushback is often, ‘You are wealthy. You can afford security. You haven’t been silenced.’ All true. But I think that misses the point. The attempt to intimidate and silence me is meant to serve as a warning to other women” with similar views, Rowling says in the podcast. She says other women have told her they have been warned: “Look at what happened to J.K. Rowling. Watch yourself.”
It is scary to stand up to bullies, as any “Harry Potter” reader knows. Let the grownups in the room lead the way. If more people stood up for J.K. Rowling, they would not only be doing right by her, they would also be standing up for human rights, specifically women’s rights, gay rights and, yes, transgender rights. They would also be standing up for the truth.
Transphobia claims don’t align with an author’s views.