JK Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter has been facing backlash from the transgender community, activists and fans alike after posting anti-trans comments on Twitter.

What did JKR do?

On June 7, JKR responded to an article from a media platform called Devex titled: “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate.” Rather sardonically, she wrote: “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

This was insulting for the trans community. It’s a fact that transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people can also menstruate without falling under the “wumben” umbrella. JKR’s attempt at sarcasm instantly backfired as Twitterati picked up on shrill notes of transphobia in her tweet. A volley of protests came down on her from all quarters, and especially from the trans community, accusing her of dismissing their identity and existence. Embarrassingly, JKR responded to the backlash with tweets justifying her stand, that were even more transphobic this time around. They reeked of typical TERF behaviour.

TERF? What’s that?

TERF is an acronym for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist”. It was coined in 2008 to categorise women who assert feminism exclusively on the grounds of the biological female identity. JKR too, has all the makings of a TERF. In her tweets, she pressed on the precedence of sex over gender, which essentially translates to a denial of social identity in the face of a biological one assigned to us at birth. This definition of feminism is largely discriminatory as it doesn’t take into account the trans experience of being female. Unfortunately, TERFism is quite popular in the United Kingdom, the place JKR calls home.

Transphobia And Racism

Twitter has accused JKR of insensitivity in the past too. She has espoused transphobic views on several occasions in the past. Besides that, fans have even detected overtones of racism in the characterisation of South-East Asian people in the Harry Potter books. Diehard fans, now that we are grown and socially aware, are finding it difficult to locate consonance between JKR’s problematic views and the world of magic she so beautifully created that we still carry inside of us.

Daniel Radclife, who plays Harry Potter for the series is disappointed. According to the BBC, he hopes Rowling’s comments will not “taint” the Harry Potter series for fans. In a statement posted on an LGBT suicide prevention charity website, the actor said: “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people.”

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