J.K. Rowling’s latest tweets ignore and manipulate devastatingly high incidence’s of violence against trans people.
In a recent tweet J.K. Rowling, author of the much loved Harry Potter novels, has continued her barrage on trans people by positioning trans-women, once again, as a threat.
This is only the latest in a string of transphobic comments made by the author, begging the question; why won’t she just leave trans people alone? She needs to write another book or something to keep her busy.
Rowling’s latest tweet came on Sunday as a response to reports of Scotland’s new policy on recording rapes. Scottish police have announced that if the perpetrator identifies as a woman then the rape will be recorded as having been perpetrated by a woman.
This led Rowling to make to following comments; “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman.”
In a tone resemblant to her infamously transphobic 2020 essay, Rowling once again positions trans-women as predators. This type of fear-mongering is typical within anti-trans discourse, imagining an enemy out of those with the simple desire for authenticity.
War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.
The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman.https://t.co/SyxFnnboM1— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 12, 2021
Critical to Rowling’s fear-mongering is the dangerously warped suggestion that it is trans-women who are most likely to perform sexual assault. This is blatantly ill-informed, ignoring the reality that it is cis-men, not trans-women, who are the highest perpetrators of sexual assault.
Even more devastating is Rowling’s apparent ignorance of the staggeringly high rate of sexual violence perpetrated against trans people.
A survey in 2015, performed on nearly 28,000 trans adults by the National Centre of Transgender Equality, found that 47 per cent of respondents said that they had been sexually assaulted in their life. Compared to cisgender people, trans people are more than four times as likely to experience sexual violence.
Do NOT read #JKRowling 's transphobia manifesto. I already did it for you. Every line is misinformation, fear mongering, misgendering, othering, ignorance, far right language/dog whistles, and pure hate. It's not just ugly. This is HATE. Don't ingest this BS. I beg you.
— Tess Fowler (@TessFowler) June 10, 2020
In response to Rowling’s comments many of the Harry Potter film stars – namely Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Bonnie Wright – have expressed their support for the trans community.
Here’s a piece of advice for the fantasy-fiction-has-been, get a hobby.
