British writer JK Rowling has been accused of transphobia on Twitter, implying in a comment that only women menstruate, which has outraged groups that consider this perspective discriminatory.
The creator of Harry Potter has also been branded as a “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” (TERF) for defending that the biological sex of people is real and “not an illusion”.
It all started when on Saturday she shared a link to an article entitled “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-Covid-19 world for people who menstruate” and ironic that “people who menstruate” “used to be a word for those people”, alluding to the woman.
‘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
This comment was considered by some users and organizations as discriminatory towards other people who can also menstruate, such as transgender or non-binary gender people, and also towards women who for some reason do not have menstruation.
After the initial tweet, the author, who has 14.5 million followers on the social network, proceeded to explain her position regarding sex and gender, which increased the controversy.
Rowling ironically said that “those menstruating people” have a name, in allusion to women
Rowling said that she respects “the right of every trans person to live in whatever way they feel authentic and comfortable” but at the same time claimed that her own life has been marked “by the fact of being a woman”, with all the consequences that this implies and that, in her opinion, differ from the experiences of other groups.
“The idea that women like me – who have been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling affinity because they are vulnerable in the same way as women, that is, to male violence – ‘hate’ trans people because We think that sex is real and has vital consequences, it is nonsense,” she said.
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
“If sex isn’t real, there is 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,” she wrote.
Other users criticized Rowling, who has previously opined on the issue of differentiation between women and transgender people, to focus on this issue when the world is mired in protests over the death of African-American George Floyd by the police on May 25 in the United States.