Warning: This article contains discussion of LGBTQ+ issues which some readers may find distressing.
Harry Potter fans have quickly come to the defence of Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe after JK Rowling hit out at the pair on Twitter.
Rowling has often come under fire for comments about the trans community, having most recently responded to a review on gender services for UK children by Hilary Cass.
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Describing the work as 'the most robust review of the medical evidence for transitioning children that's ever been conducted', the author claimed the findings showed that 'kids have been irreversibly harmed'.
"Thousands are complicit, not just medics, but the celebrity mouthpieces, unquestioning media and cynical corporations," she said.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before the backlash came, although one of her defenders wrote in response to the post: "Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology ... safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them ..."
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'Dan and Emma', of course, being two of the lead actors from the Harry Potter films, who have previously spoken out in support of the trans community.
However, Rowling then replied to say that they were ‘not safe’ in the knowledge of being forgiven by her.
“Not safe, I'm afraid,” she wrote.
“Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women's hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces.”
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But many fans came to Radcliffe and Watson's defence, arguing that Rowling had taken their comments as a 'personal attack' on her.
One fumed: "Perhaps Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson won't forgive JK Rowling for her transphobia. Has she thought of that?"
Someone else agreed: "Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe don't need forgiveness for being compassionate human beings and they weren't offering you an apology. Such a bigoted narcissist."
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Another said: "This genius thinks JK Rowling literally gave birth to Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Utterly lunatic.
"But even if she did, that would not compel them to agree with her. Children don't have to agree with their parents."
A fourth added: "Wait - what have Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe got to apologise to Rowling for? They were in the films of her books when they were kids, she doesn't own them. That's some really weird feudal s**t there..."
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Rowling has previously been criticised for her controversial stance on the trans community, including a series of tweets made in June 2020 reacting to an opinion piece about 'people who menstruate'.
At the time, she tweeted: “’People who menstruate’. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
LADbible Group has contacted representatives for Radcliffe and Watson for comment. A representative for Rowling declined for comment.
What the other Harry Potter stars have said about JK Rowling and her comments on the trans community
Rupert Grint
The Ron actor said in a statement in 2020: "I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers. Trans women are women. Trans men are men."
He added in an interview with the Times two years later: "I liken JK Rowling to an auntie. I don’t necessarily agree with everything my auntie says, but she’s still my auntie. It’s a tricky one."
Ralph Fiennes
The Voldemort actor told The New York Times in 2022: "The verbal abuse directed at her is disgusting, it’s appalling.
"I can understand a viewpoint that might be angry at what she says about women. But it’s not some obscene, uber-right-wing fascist. It’s just a woman saying, ‘I’m a woman and I feel I’m a woman and I want to be able to say that I’m a woman.’"
Harry Melling
Melling, who played Harry Potter's cousin Dudley Dursley, told the Independent in 2022: "I can only speak for myself, and what I feel, to me, is very simple, which is that transgender women are women and transgender men are men."
Evanna Lynch
Lynch played Luna Lovegood in the films and told the Telegraph in 2023: "I just felt that her character has always been to advocate for the most vulnerable members of society. The problem is that there’s a disagreement over who’s the most vulnerable.
"I do wish people would just give her more grace and listen to her."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT Foundation on 0345 3 30 30 30, 10am–6pm Monday to Friday, or email [email protected]
Topics: Celebrity, Emma Watson, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, LGBTQ+, Daniel Radcliffe
Jess Hardiman