Daniel Radcliffe Addresses J.K. Rowling’s Transphobic Tweets: ‘Transgender Women Are Women’
Daniel Radcliffe has responded to J.K. Rowling's controversial transphobic comments.
The Harry Potter star wrote an essay published by The Trevor Project — a non-profit devoted to suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth — Monday (June 8) to address the English author's anti-trans remarks.
This past weekend, Rowling came under fire after tweeting an article titled "Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate." The link was accompanied by the message: "'People who menstruate.' I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
Radcliffe began his essay by noting there is absolutely no bad blood between him and Rowling, writing, “I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now."
"While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment," he wrote.
"Transgender women are women," Radcliffe continued. " Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I."
The 30-year-old actor then directly addressed Harry Potter fans and apologized to "all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished."
"I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you," he wrote.
"If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything," Radcliffe continued. "If they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred."
"In my opinion, nobody can touch that," he concluded. "It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.”
Like Radcliffe, several other celebrities responded to Rowling's comments, including Jonathan Van Ness, Halsey and Harry Potter star Katie Leung.
The 32-year-old actress, who played Cho Chang in the film franchise, appeared to address her thoughts on Rowling's transphobic tweets by showing her support for the transgender community.
"So, you want my thoughts on Cho Chang? Okay, here goes..." Leung wrote on Twitter Sunday (June 7) before sharing a thread of links to organizations, charities and petitions that help the lives of Black trans people.