Context:

J.K. Rowling has publicly criticized several actors from the Harry Potter universe for supporting transgender rights. This backlash follows a UK Supreme Court ruling declaring trans women are not legally recognized as women, prompting actors like Paapa Essiedu, Eddie Redmayne, and Katie Leung to sign an open letter advocating for trans rights. Rowling expressed her views on social media, arguing that the concept of changing sex is a falsehood and criticizing the signatories for aligning with what she perceives as an elitist movement aimed at undermining women's and girls' rights. She suggested that the actors may be motivated by fear of professional repercussions or social ostracism. Her statements have sparked further controversy and discussions within the Harry Potter community and beyond regarding her views on transgender issues.

Dive Deeper:

• J.K. Rowling criticized several Harry Potter actors for signing a letter supporting transgender rights after a UK Supreme Court ruling against recognizing trans women as women.

• Paapa Essiedu, who is set to play Severus Snape in an upcoming HBO series, along with Eddie Redmayne and Katie Leung, were among the actors who signed the letter advocating for trans rights.

• Rowling took to social media to express her disagreement, claiming that the belief in the ability to change sex is an elitist virtue-signaling that undermines biological facts.

• She questioned the motivations of the letter's signatories, suggesting they might be acting out of fear for their careers or societal pressure rather than genuine belief.

• Rowling's comments have reignited the ongoing debate over her stance on transgender issues, as well as discussions about the influence of celebrities on social and political movements.

• J.K. Rowling is criticizing several Harry Potter actors for supporting the transgender community.

• After the United Kingdom Supreme Court declared this week that trans women are not legally women, multiple actors in the Harry Potter universe signed an open letter supporting trans rights.

• The letter was signed by Paapa Essiedu, who will be playing Severus Snape in the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series. It was also signed by Eddie Redmayne, who starred in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the Harry Potter films.

• J.K. later voiced her criticisms about the actors’ choice to publicly sign the letter on social media.

• Keep reading to find out more…

• “Nobody sane believes, or has ever believed, that humans can change sex, or that binary sex isn’t a material fact. These letters do nothing but remind us of what we know only too well: that pretending to believe these things has become an elitist badge of virtue,” she wrote on X.

• She continued, “I often wonder whether the signatories of such letters have to quieten their consciences before publicly boosting a movement intent on removing women’s and girls’ rights, which bullies gay people who admit openly they don’t want opposite sex partners, and campaigns for the continued sterilisation of vulnerable and troubled kids. Do they feel any qualms at all while chanting the foundational lie of their religion: Trans Women are Women, Trans Men are Men?”

• “Some argue that signatories of these sorts of letters are motivated by fear: fear for their careers, of course, but also fear of their co-religionists, who include angry, narcissistic men who threaten and sometimes enact violence on non-believers; back-stabbing colleagues ever ready to report wrongthink; the online shamers and doxxers and rape threateners, and, of course, the influential zealots in the upper echelons of liberal professions (though we can quibble whether they’re actually liberal at all, given the draconian authoritarianism that seems to have engulfed so many),” she added.

• If you didn’t see, last month, another Harry Potter actor criticized J.K. for her comments against the transgender community.