Political views of J. K. Rowling
She holds that her political home is the pragmatic centre-left, where that is focused on dealing with economic disparity, championing social liberalism and equal rights.
[6][7] In June 2024, Rowling wrote that she would struggle to support the Labour Party under the leadership of Keir Starmer due to its stance on gender-related issues.
[12] In Rowling's post-donation blog post in mid-June 2014, she explained that she is "friendly" with members of both campaigns and stated a belief that "there are intelligent, thoughtful people on both sides of this question".
In a blog post, she added: "How can a retreat into selfish and insecure individualism be the right response when Europe faces genuine threats, when the bonds that tie us are so powerful, when we have come so far together?
"[19] Rowling made analogies between Donald Trump and Voldemort after the Republican presidential candidate called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States on 7 December 2015.
[20] On 7 October 2016, Rowling released on Pottermore four pieces of writing exclusively as an introduction to the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, titled History of Magic in North America.
[29] In a speech made on 25 March 2022, Putin alleged that Russian culture was being "cancelled" in Western countries, and compared Russia to Rowling "[falling] out of favour with fans of so-called gender freedoms" in reference to her statements on transgender people.
[36] Rowling wrote about what it meant to be British saying, "It means a welfare state of which we should be fiercely proud and a tradition of tolerance and free speech we should defend to our last collective breath.
The letter states in part, "The free exchange of information and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society, is daily becoming more constricted", criticises "a vogue for public shaming and ostracism" and "a blinding moral certainty", warns of fear spreading in the arts and media, and denounces President Donald Trump as "a real threat to democracy".
[39][40][41][42] Objections to the letter included accusations that Rowling and the other signatories had powerful means to publish their opinions, and that it was disingenuous to attempt to silence others who might offer criticism of their views.
Her statements have divided feminists,[53][54][55] fuelled debates on freedom of speech[56][57] and cancel culture,[58] and prompted support for transgender people from the arts sector.
She finds language calling females "menstruators" to be dehumanising, and she believes that the trans activist movement seeks to erode women as a political class as well as a biological one.
[96][97][98] On 1 April 2024, in response to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 going into effect, Rowling posted a Twitter thread in which she listed and misgendered several transgender women.
Clarissa-Jan Lim, a reporter for MSNBC, said Rowling grouping them together was "an apparent attempt to draw a connection between trans people and sexual perversion".
[107][108] Several actors known for portraying Rowling's characters in the Wizarding World criticised her views directly, or spoke out in support of trans rights, including Daniel Radcliffe,[62] Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Eddie Redmayne.
[119] Other performers and activists have supported Rowling and condemned comments against her,[120] including Ayaan Hirsi Ali,[121] Julie Bindel,[122] Dave Chappelle,[123] Robbie Coltrane,[124] Dana International,[77] Eddie Izzard,[125] Kathleen Stock, Alison Moyet,[54] Ian McEwan, and Frances Barber.
[131] Warner Bros. Entertainment and Universal Studios Parks & Resorts released statements in June 2020, emphasising their prioritisation of LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity, but did not directly mention Rowling or her comments.
[136] The radical feminist Julie Bindel said that Rowling "has inspired generations of young women and men to look into issues of sex-based discrimination".
[137] Four authors resigned in protest from the Blair Partnership, Rowling's literary agency, after the company refused to issue a public statement of support for trans rights, saying that "freedom of speech can only be upheld if the structural inequalities that hinder equal opportunities for underrepresented groups are challenged and changed.
[145] In September 2020, a letter in support of Rowling, signed by 58 entertainers and authors, including Ian McEwan, actress Frances Barber, playwright Tom Stoppard and actor Griff Rhys Jones, was published in The Sunday Times.
The letter condemned the "onslaught of abuse" directed at Rowling on social media, describing such behaviour as an "insidious, authoritarian and misogynistic trend".
[130] In a 2021 essay for New Statesman, former British prime minister Tony Blair expressed his belief that Labour could not win if it "looked askance" at Rowling's views on transgender people, calling for open debate on the issue.
[150] In his 2021 Netflix stand-up comedy special The Closer, comedian Dave Chappelle expressed support for Rowling, declaring himself "Team TERF".
[151] In December 2023 the online New Zealand publication The Spinoff reported that the Auckland War Memorial Museum had cancelled plans to host a Fantastic Beasts exhibit due to several staff members expressing concerns to the management about Rowling's views on transgender people.
[152] In 2006, Rowling criticised skinny models, describing that their "only function in the world appears to be supporting the trade in overpriced handbags and rat-sized dogs".
She condemned societal beauty standards in "this skinny-obsessed world" and magazine covers that feature people who are "either seriously ill or suffering from an eating disorder".
[156] Rowling's employment at Amnesty International made her realise that "imagination is what allows us to empathise with people who have suffered horribly and to act on their behalf."
[158] Rowling joined others in opposing age banding of children's books, signing a 2008 petition stating that the proposal to impose age-guidance ranges is "ill-conceived, damaging to the interests of young readers and highly unlikely to make the slightest difference to sales".
