the writer JK Rowling, from the series Harry Potter and the detective novels he writes under the pseudonym Robert galbraith, has been accused of transphobia following some comments she made on Twitter last weekend.
The 54-year-old Englishwoman mocked the use of the term “people who menstruate” in the tweet that publishes an opinionated text titled “Creating a post-covid-19 world with more equality for people who menstruate”.
“'People who menstruate'? I'm sure there's a word for these people,” Rowling wrote on the platform, when sharing the article. Then, she wrote words invented by her that look like “women” (“women”, in translation into Portuguese). Criticism soon came that the author was being transphobic.
'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?
Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate https://t.co/cVpZxG7gaA
- JK Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
In a sequence of tweets, Rowling explained in detail what she thinks about the matter. “If sex is not real, then there is no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased,” she argued.
“I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability for many to discuss their lives substantively. It’s not hate to tell the truth.”
The writer went on to say that she respects the rights of trans people to live as well as is “authentic” and “comfortable” for them and stated that she would “march” with them in cases of discrimination based on transphobia. “At the same time, my life was shaped by being a [cisgender] woman,” she pondered.
It got bad. Rowling continued to be criticized – she was even the target of misogynistic attacks.
If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn't hate to speak the truth.
- JK Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
Trans personality Amrou Al-Kadhi, columnist for the magazine Attitude, accused Rowling of “vomiting” a “common mythology”.
“Trans people are not an ideological collective trying to erase the concept of biological sex. Transgender people are the 0,6% of the population whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth, and they are just trying to live.”
This is such a common mythology spewed by transphobes. Trans people are not an ideological collective trying to erase the idea of biological sex. Trans people are 0.6% of the population whose gender identity doesn't match their assigned sex, and they are just trying to live. https://t.co/jqbYUndTtg
— Amrou Al-Kadhi? (@Glamrou) June 6, 2020
