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J.K. Rowling speaks out again on the transgender movement: "I believe there is something dangerous"

The author of 'Harry Potter' said in a podcast that after the controversy she came to fear for her own safety and that of her family.

(Cordon Press)

(Cordon Press)Cordon Press

Rosana Rábago Sainz
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Rosana Rábago Sainz

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2 minutes read

J.K. Rowling warned of the dangers of the transgender movement during her latest interview. The Harry Potter author said in the episode of the podcast Witch Trails of J.K. Rowling published on March 14 that she had tried to understand the trans community but ultimately came to the conclusion that there was something "dangerous" behind the movement:

Time will tell whether I’ve got this wrong. I can only say that I’ve thought about it deeply and hard and long and I’ve listened, I promise, to the other side. And I believe absolutely that there is something dangerous about this movement and it must be challenged. But at the same time, I have to tell you, a ton of Potter fans were still with me. And in fact, a ton of Potter fans were grateful that I’d said what I said.

The author also dedicated a few words to people who criticized that she herself had "betrayed" what she published in the Harry Potter saga. According to her, she never betrayed her books, but rather the readers did not understand them, since she always defends the same position she held at the beginning:

I’m constantly told that I have betrayed my own books, but my position is that I’m absolutely upholding the positions that I took in ‘Potter.' My position is that this activist movement in the form that it’s currently taking, echoes the very thing that I was warning against in ‘Harry Potter.' I am fighting what I see as a powerful, insidious misogynistic movement that I think has gained huge purchase in very influential areas of society. I do not see this particular movement as either benign or powerless.

J.K. Rowling always knew her opinions would generate controversy.

The popular British writer also acknowledged that she knew, from the beginning, that her views would be frowned upon by fans of the boy wizard saga who would take a stand against her:

At first I was interested, and then I became deeply troubled by what I saw as a cultural movement rooted in illiberal methods and questionable ideas, I absolutely knew that if I spoke out many people who had loved my books would be deeply unhappy with me. I knew that. I knew because I could see that they believed they were living the values that I espoused in those books. I could tell they believed they were fighting for underdog and difference and fairness. And I thought it would be easier not to, you know that this could be really bad. And honestly it has been bad. Personally, it has not been fun. And I have been scared at times for my safety and overwhelmingly for my family’s safety.

However, she did not hesitate and decided to voice her opinion, even though she knew it could have really negative consequences, going so far as to warn her representatives, in 2019, not to force her to change her mind just before posting the tweets that sparked the controversy:

I was thoughtful enough to call my rep team and tell them they couldn't argue with me to change my mind. And I read aloud what I was going to say because I felt they needed a warning.

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