J.K. Rowling has stated that she is unconcerned about how the opposition to her stance on transgender issues would impact her legacy.
She stated that anyone who believes she has “deeply” misjudged her.
She has been labeled transphobic due to her beliefs on gender identification and the admission of trans women into venues reserved for women.
J.K. Rowling stated in a new podcast that she “never intended to upset people” and that she “was not unhappy with stepping down from my pedestal.”
The author stated that fans who think she has “ruined” her legacy “could not have misinterpreted me more terribly.”
She continued,
“I do not stroll around my house contemplating my legacy.”
“What a pompous way to live your life, wondering what your legacy will be. Anyway, I’ll be dead. I care about the present moment. I have concern for the living.”
Threats of bodily harm
J.K. Rowling has been heavily criticized for a series of remarks expressing concern about the impact of trans problems on women’s rights and for her opposition to Scotland’s gender recognition bill.
In an essay published in 2020 on her website, she stated, “When you throw open the doors of toilets and changing rooms to any male who believes or feels he’s a woman, you open the door to any man who wishes to enter.”
Some have taken her stance as transphobic, leading to demands for a boycott of the whole Harry Potter brand, from the books and films to the bestselling video game Hogwarts Legacy.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, along with other Harry Potter stars, have criticized Rowling’s comments.
Ralph Fiennes, who portrayed Lord Voldemort, defended the author, calling the abuse she has received “disgusting” and “outrageous.”
She has denied being transphobic, stating that she respects “any trans person’s freedom to live in whatever way that seems real and comfortable to them” and wants trans individuals to be free from discrimination and abuse.
Eddie Izzard and Helena Bonham Carter have both stated that they do not consider Rowling’s ideas to be transphobic, but rather symptomatic of her own abuse.
The author stated on the podcast titled The Witch Trials of JK Rowling that she had also received “direct threats of violence” due to her attitude.
“Someone has visited my home where my children reside, and my address has been put online. I’ve received threats that the police would consider credible.”
Rowling later stated that not all questions have definitive solutions.
“There is a great allure to black-and-white thinking, and I attempt to demonstrate this in the Harry Potter series.
It is the most convenient and, in many respects, the safest place to be. If you take an all-or-nothing stance on any issue, you will find allies and a community with relative ease. I have pledged loyalty to this one simple concept.
“What I’ve attempted to demonstrate in the Harry Potter books, and what I sincerely believe myself, is that we should doubt ourselves the most when we’re certain.”
The Witch Trials of JK Rowling is a seven-part series presented by Megan Phelps-Roper, who was raised in the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church for 26 years before leaving in 2012.
The first two episodes, which were released on Tuesday, seek to draw comparisons between the Religious fundamentalists who attempted to ban the Harry Potter books in the early 2000s and the campaigners who criticize Rowling now.
In response to a question on the protesters who burnt her books in the early 2000s on the grounds that they promoted witchcraft, Rowling stated, “Book burners, by definition, have placed themselves across the boundary of rational discourse.
“There is not a single book on the globe that I would burn, including those that I believe to be harmful. Burning is the last resort of those who cannot debate, in my opinion.”
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