Succession star Brian Cox defends JK Rowling’s views on trans people and menstruation: ‘Call something what it is’
Disappointing.
Succession star Brian Cox has defended JK Rowling‘s views on trans people and menstruation in a new interview.
Speaking to Reader’s Digest, the veteran actor – also known for roles in films like Braveheart, The Ring and Troy – said: “I was asking my son because I’d been away when this JK Rowling thing had been going on.
“I kept saying, ‘So what happened?’ He said, ‘Well, she believes women menstruate.’ That’s what they do, don’t they? He said, ‘Well, people don’t like that.’
“And you go, ‘Oh, for Christ’s sake!’ Call something what it is, as opposed to something that you think it should be. And it is – it’s the cancel culture. I keep well away from it.”
Cox and his son were discussing comments made by Rowling in June.
Brian Cox as Logan Roy on Succession (Picture: HBO)
At the time, she shared an op-ed titled: “Creating a more equal post-Covid-19 world for people who menstruate”, along with the caption: “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there use to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Yesterday, she also shared a picture a t-shirt sold by an anti-trans online shop, which also sells badges that say “biology isn’t bigotry”, “dykes not dicks” and “no such thing as a lesbian with a penis.”
‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?
Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate https://t.co/cVpZxG7gaA
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
Rowling added in an essay posted on her website in June: “I’m concerned about the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning (returning to their original sex), because they regret taking steps that have, in some cases, altered their bodies irrevocably, and taken away their fertility.”
Stonewall research has shown that of the 3,398 trans patients who had appointments at an NHS Gender Identity Service the UK between 2016 and 2017, less than one per cent said in those appointments that they had experienced transitioned-related regret, or had detransitioned.