J.K. Rowling is in trouble again — this time, for believing that there is such a thing as biological sex.
The Harry Potter author drew the ire of transgender activists this summer when some discovered that she followed Twitter accounts and liked tweets that didn’t align with the doctrines of transgender ideology. They labeled Rowling a “TERF,” a trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
That’s basically a feminist who still believes in biological sex.
Instead of admitting that it’s actually OK to believe in biological sex, though, Rowling had a representative cover up the issue.
“I’m afraid J.K. Rowling had a clumsy and middle-aged moment and this is not the first time she has favourited by holding her phone incorrectly,” the representative told PinkNews regarding one transgender-critical tweet she had liked.
Now, however, Rowling is admitting exactly where she stands on the issue. On Thursday morning, the author tweeted “#IStandWithMaya,” a hashtag that was trending in support of Maya Forstater.
Dress however you please.
Call yourself whatever you like.
Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you.
Live your best life in peace and security.
But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 19, 2019
Forstater lost her job over some tweets and an article in which she argued that “defining womanhood as a feeling rather than a biological fact has implications for protection of women’s rights.” Those implications, she explained, can be harmful.
She has since started a crowdfunding campaign to help her take her former employer to task for viewpoint discrimination. “My case is a test case to show that people should not be discriminated against for having gender critical views,” she wrote.
On Wednesday, a U.K. tribunal judge sided against Forstater. “The precedent is now set, and a message sent to U.K. employees: don’t express the view that people can’t change sex,” philosophy professor Kathleen Stock wrote. “Your job will not be protected if you do.”
When Rowling tweeted her support for Forstater, the responses were predictably ludicrous. One person responded, “Tweetus Deletus.” Others were less humorous, claiming that Rowling’s support for Forstater was an expression of hatred toward transgender people. This is not the case.
Forstater’s argument, which has been distorted by her detractors, was simply that she is “concerned that governments around the world are rushing through laws and policies which say that people with male bodies can become women simply by identifying as women. This is happening without adequate consultation or consideration for the impact on women’s privacy, safety and inclusion,” as she wrote on her CrowdJustice page.
Feminists such as Forstater and Rowling question this rapid adoption of gender radicalism, and they are punished as a result. Yet the trans-exclusionary strain of feminism seeks to protect women and question the way transgender narratives could be abused — in homeless shelters, bathrooms, and other gender-specific spaces. There’s nothing hateful about caution.
Rowling was right to support Forstater’s campaign to ensure that other residents of the United Kingdom aren’t discriminated against for their beliefs. Hopefully this time, she’ll stand her ground and won’t pretend the tweet was an accident.
