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A man has been sentenced for making death threats against J K Rowling and Rosie Duffield. [1] I think this should be added to this article, but I don’t want to interfere with any redrafting, etc. Sweet6970 ( talk) 20:17, 5 June 2024 (UTC)
Suissa and Sullivan are out, and Glenn Mullen is in. As there's no good faith dispute at all over whether J. K. Rowling was insulted and threatened for her views, I've left that in.— S Marshall T/ C 10:54, 9 June 2024 (UTC)
Draft 7.1: 403 words | Historical: 429 words |
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Rowling has [some contributors want to add a qualifier here] gender-critical views. [1] [2] [3] She resists proposed changes to UK law that would make it simpler to transition without a medical diagnosis. Rowling is concerned that easier transitions could affect access to female-only spaces and legal protections for women. [4] [5] [6] [a] She opposes gender self-recognition [11] [12] [b] and suggests that children and cisgender women are threatened by trans women and trans-positive messages. [14] In April 2024, responding to Scotland's Hate Crime and Public Order Act, she tweeted a list of trans women, writing that they are "men, every last one of them". [15] Friction over Rowling's gender-critical writings surged in 2019 when she defended Maya Forstater. [16] When Forstater's employment contract was not renewed after Forstater shared gender-critical views, [17] Rowling wrote that trans people should live in "peace and security", but questioned women being "force[d] out of their jobs for stating that sex is real". [18] [c] According to Harry Potter scholar Lana Whited, in the next six months "Rowling herself fanned the flames as she became increasingly vocal". [23] In June 2020, [23] Rowling mocked the phrase " people who menstruate", [24] and tweeted that women's rights and "lived reality" would be "erased" if "sex isn't real". [25] [17] Rowling's views have affected her reputation. [26] She has been the target of widespread condemnation, [9] [27] [28] insults, and threats, including death threats. [29] [30] Despite the controversy, sales of Harry Potter books grew during the COVID-19 lockdown. [31] [32] Criticism came from Harry Potter fansites, LGBT charities, and leading actors of the Wizarding World. [33] [34] [35] and Human Rights Campaign. [4] [36] [37] [38] After Kerry Kennedy expressed "profound disappointment" in her views, Rowling returned the Ripple of Hope Award given to her by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organisation. [39] Rowling rejects these characterisations and denies being transphobic. [13] [40] In an essay posted on her website in June 2020 – which left trans people feeling betrayed [11] [33] – Rowling said her views on women's rights sprang from survivorship of domestic abuse and sexual assault. [41] [42] While affirming that "the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable ... Trans people need and deserve protection", she wrote that it would be unsafe to allow "any man who believes or feels he's a woman" into bathrooms or changing rooms. [42] [43] [44] Whited asserted in 2024 that Rowling's sometimes "flippant" and "simplistic understanding of gender identity" had permanently changed her "relationship not only with fans, readers, and scholars ... but also with her works themselves". [45] |
Rowling's responses to proposed changes to UK gender recognition laws, [4] [5] [d] and her views on sex and gender, have provoked controversy. [9] Her statements have divided feminists; [6] [46] [47] fuelled debates on freedom of speech, [48] [49] academic freedom [8] and cancel culture; [27] and prompted declarations of support for transgender people from the literary, [50] arts [51] and culture sectors. [52] When Maya Forstater's employment contract with the London branch of the Center for Global Development was not renewed after she tweeted gender-critical views, [17] [18] Rowling responded in December 2019 with a tweet that transgender people should live their lives as they pleased in "peace and security", but questioned women being "force[d] out of their jobs for stating that sex is real". [18] [e] In another controversial tweet in June 2020, [34] Rowling mocked an article for using the phrase " people who menstruate", [24] and tweeted that women's rights and "lived reality" would be "erased" if "sex isn't real". [54] [55] LGBT charities and leading actors of the Wizarding World franchise condemned Rowling's comments; [37] [38] [f] GLAAD called them "cruel" and "inaccurate". [61] Rowling responded with an essay on her website [13] in which she revealed that her views on women's rights were informed by her experience as a survivor of domestic abuse and sexual assault. [42] While affirming that "the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable ... Trans people need and deserve protection", she believed that it would be unsafe to allow "any man who believes or feels he's a woman" into bathrooms or changing rooms. [42] [62] [63] Writing of her own experiences with sexism and misogyny, [64] she wondered if the "allure of escaping womanhood" would have led her to transition if she had been born later, and said that trans activism was "seeking to erode 'woman' as a political and biological class". [65] Rowling's continual statements – beginning in 2017 [9] [66] [67] – have been called transphobic by critics [68] [69] and she has been referred to as a TERF. [69] [70] [71] She rejects these characterisations and the notion that she holds animosity towards transgender people, saying that her viewpoint has been misunderstood. [13] [68] [67] Criticism of Rowling's views has come from the Harry Potter fansites MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron; [72] and the charities Mermaids, [34] Stonewall, [73] and Human Rights Campaign. [74] After Kerry Kennedy expressed "profound disappointment" in her views, Rowling returned the Ripple of Hope Award given to her by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organisation. [39] As Rowling's views on the legal status of transgender people came under scrutiny, [8] she received insults and death threats [75] [76] and discussion moved beyond the Twitter community. [77] Some performers and feminists have supported her. [77] [78] Figures from the arts world criticised "hate speech directed against her". [79] |
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