JK Rowling promotes anti-trans shop selling ‘transwomen are men’ badges
The 'Harry Potter' author shared a product from a shop which sells transphobic merchandise.
JK Rowling has sparked fresh outrage after sharing a link to an anti-trans shop on Twitter.
The Harry Potter author shared a picture of a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan ‘This witch doesn’t burn’ from Wild Womyn Workshop earlier this week.
She shared the pic with the caption: “Sometimes a T-shirt just speaks to you… (From https://wildwomynworkshop.com, in case you know a witch who’d like one [winking face emoji]).”
Sometimes a T-shirt just speaks to you…
(From https://t.co/hhOu3fO1rg, in case you know a witch who’d like one 😉) pic.twitter.com/T4E9OCMCMI
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 22, 2020
The online shop in question has a ‘gender critical’ product section, which includes badges that say “biology isn’t bigotry”, “dykes not dicks” and “no such thing as a lesbian with a penis.”
Other items include a “feminist mug” with the words “notorious transphobe” on it, and stickers saying “transactivism is misogyny”.
Rowling’s latest tweet follows one in June in which she shared an op-ed titled “Creating a more equal post-Covid-19 world for people who menstrate”, along with the caption: “‘People who menstrate.’ I’m sure there use to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
‘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
She doubled down on her views in a subsequent essay on her website, in which she propagated myths about people who “detransition” or express regret at their gender transition.
She said: “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.
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
Last December, Rowling also tweeted support for an anti-trans researcher Maya Forstater after her views were described in court as “not worthy of respect in a democratic society.”
“Dress however you please,” Rowling told her 14 million followers. “Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill.”
The latest upset comes as Rowling’s new book Troubled Blood, written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, experienced huge sales this month. According to reviews, the book includes a cisgendered male character who wears women’s clothing.
In a review for The Telegraph, a writer questioned “what critics of Rowling’s stance on trans issues will make of a book whose moral seems to be: never trust a man in a dress.”