JK Rowling can’t forgive Harry Potter stars for trans stance

JK Rowling has reignited a feud between herself and Harry Potter actors Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, stating she can’t forgive them.

JK Rowling has indicated she won’t be able to forgive Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe after they spoke out against her stance on gender identity in 2020.

The Harry Potter author has made headlines in recent days after railing against controversial laws in Scotland that make stirring up hatred against a number of groups, including transgender people, an offence.

JK Rowling has indicated she won’t be able to forgive Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe. Picture: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

Emma Watson. Picture: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

JK Rowling has publicly clashed with trans activists on social media, strongly defends the rights of women and has raised concerns about single-sex spaces.

Authorities announced recently that provisions of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 would be enforced.

Amid speculation this week that Ms Rowling could be investigated for misgendering trans people she declared: “I look forward to being arrested”.

A spokesman for Police Scotland later confirmed she would not be charged.

The debate about trans rights and medical interventions was rekindled with the release of the Cass Review in England on Wednesday, which urged “extreme caution” around prescribing hormone treatments to teenagers.

Rowling responded to the report writing: “Over the last four years, Hilary Cass has conducted the most robust review of the medical evidence for transitioning children that’s ever been conducted. Mere hours after it was released to the press and public, committed ideologues are doubling down.”

Adam Harris replied: “Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology ... safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them.”

Actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in 2004. Picture: Steve Finn/Getty Images

Emma Watson and JK Rowling pose during the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2011 in London, England. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

In response, JK Rowling slammed the actors who appeared in the Harry Potter movies and indicated she would not forgive them after they attacked her stance four years ago.

“Not safe, I’m afraid. Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces.”

In 2020, Radcliffe responded to Rowling’s stance with a statement that included: “... I feel compelled to say something at this moment. Transgender women are women. 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...”

Watson wrote: “Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are. I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you, and love you for who you are.”

Daniel Radcliffe. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Emma Watson. Picture: Victor Boyko/Getty Images

Cass report calls for ‘extreme caution’

Healthcare for children and young people grappling with gender identity issues should be “holistic” and providers should exercise “extreme caution” around prescribing hormone treatments to older teens, the independent Cass report stated on Wednesday.

The four-year probe of gender identity services for the cohort, led by retired pediatrician Hilary Cass, makes dozens of other recommendations, ranging from more research to reform of the referrals system.

It was commissioned in 2020 by England’s state-run National Health Service (NHS), following a rise in the number of children and young people questioning their gender and seeking healthcare support.

Running to almost 400 pages, the report urges the NHS to review its policy on giving children masculinising or feminising hormones from aged 16, urging “extreme caution”.

There “should be a clear clinical rationale for providing hormones at this stage rather than waiting until an individual reaches 18,” it said in one of the key recommendations.

Concerns have grown around the introduction of medical interventions, such as puberty blockers, amid a lack of evidence on their use and long-term impacts.

The issue has become contentious in the UK, as in other countries, with Cass calling the “toxicity” of the debate “exceptional”.

In a thread posted to X, Rowling expressed her anger at the report’s findings.

“These are people who’ve deemed opponents ‘far-right’ for wanting to know there are proper checks and balances in place before autistic, gay and abused kids – groups that are all over-represented at gender clinics – are left sterilised, inorgasmic, lifelong patients.

“I understand that the review’s conclusions will have come as a seismic shock to those who’ve hounded and demonised whistleblowers and smeared opponents as bigots and transphobes, but trying to discredit Hilary Cass’s work isn’t merely misguided. It’s actively malign.”

She slammed people for “cheerleading for what now looks like severe medical malpractice” and warned “the bandwagon you hopped on so gladly is hurtling towards a cliff.”

– with AFP