The Loose Woman star has said that she is “genuinely disgusted” after the Harry Potter author deliberately misgendered her on X
BY JASMINE SMITH, IMAGE BY ITV
JK Rowling has purposefully misgendered trans journalist India Willoughby in a “grotesque” social media post. The author, best known for the Harry Potter series, has faced backlash repeatedly in recent years for comments about the trans community, even stating that she’d go to jail instead of using a trans person’s pronouns.
Rowling posted a long statement on Sunday (3 March) on X expressing her belief that trans women should be “banned from women’s spaces” including women’s locker rooms. She continued by claiming that allowing trans women into female-only spaces would remove “an obstacle that has hitherto been proven to increase women and girls’ safety”.
In response to the post, one commenter asked: “So are you saying this lady should use the men’s locker room then?” alongside a video of journalist India Willoughby.
Rowling replied: “India didn’t become a woman. India is cosplaying a misogynistic male fantasy of what a woman is.”
India, who is Britain’s first out trans newsreader and first trans co-host of the all-women talk show Loose Women, took to X to respond, describing the social media post as “grotesque transphobia”:
“I am every bit as much a woman as JK Rowling,” she said. “The debate about whether JK Rowling is a transphobe is over.”
The Harry Potter author has since doubled down on her views, alongside misgendering trans women through using the term “trans-identified men”.
She continued to misgender India Willoughby in a follow-up statement, using masculine pronouns and referring to the journalist as a “man”.
Many people have called out JK Rowling for both her misgendering of India and her anti-trans remarks.
This isn’t the first time the pair have crossed paths. In January last year, India posted on X stating she was “more of a woman than JK Rowling will ever be.” The Harry Potter author then replied: “Citation needed.”
Rowling has frequently denied being transphobic despite multiple comments attacking the trans community and supporting gender critical activists. Her novel, The Ink Black Heart, features a character who is cancelled for being anti-trans. Despite this, in 2023 Rowling claimed to be misunderstood and that “she never set out to upset anyone”.
Many actors across the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises have joined Potter fans in publicly speaking out against Rowling and showing support for the trans community.
India spoke out on X again on Tuesday (5 March) accusing Rowling of “indisputable transphobic bullying” and thanked supporters for their kind words.
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