UPDATED 6/8, 9:15 p.m. ET: Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who played the character Harry Potter in the popular film series, has responded to J.K. Rowling via a statement that was published by the Trevor Project, an organization that provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services for young LGBTQ people.
"Transgender women are women," Radcliffe wrote on the Trevor Project's website in response to Rowling. "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. According to The Trevor Project, 78% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported being the subject of discrimination due to their gender identity. It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm."
Radcliffe continued, "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."
The actor also made a point to mention that his response was not "in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself." He acknowledged that Rowling is "unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken" but he felt "compelled to say something at this moment."
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J.K. Rowling has found herself in hot water for yet again doing something that makes her look transphobic.
The Harry Potter author made a highly questionable tweet on Saturday in response to an opinion editorial article discussing a "more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate."
"‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people," Rowling quote-tweeted in response to the article. "Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
This also wasn't the first time that Rowling has made transphobic comments, back in 2019 she was also criticized for supporting a woman who had been fired for having transphobic tweets.
Rowling's most recent tweets didn't end there though, as she would go on to try and defend her previous tweet and stance.
This was also while she attempted to respond to others who were criticizing her for the original transphobic tweet.
Despite her attempts of explaining herself, Rowling still received heavy backlash for her comments, some of which coming from trans pop singer Kim Petras as well.
