JK Rowling’s family begged her to shut up about trans people

JK Rowling has just revealed that her loved ones were “begging [her] not to speak” of her anti-trans views, something she claims she had a duty to speak about.

This revelation came from her essay in the nonfiction book The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht: Voices from the Front-Line of Scotland’s Battle for Women’s Rights. It highlights the experiences of trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) in Scotland during their campaign against transgender rights.

Related: JK Rowling reported to police for throwing transphobic insults at talk show host

“JK Rowling has definitely committed a crime,” the talk show host said.

“I kept my thoughts to myself in public, because people around me, including some I love, were begging me not to speak,” said Rowling in an extract published by The Times. “So I watched from the sidelines as women with everything to lose rallied, in Scotland and across the U.K., to defend their rights. My guilt that I wasn’t standing with them was with me daily, like a chronic pain.”

LGBTQ+ news you can rely on

Keep track of the ongoing battle against bias and for equality with our newsletter.

Daily Weekly Good News

Her essay discusses how she defended Maya Forstater, a prominent anti-trans activist who won a legal battle in the United Kingdom that defended her ability to deny that trans women are women. 

This was where Rowling’s views became known to the public, and what sent her on the pipeline that would later evolve into views that are so extreme that Elon Musk asked her to talk about something other than trans people for a change.

The essay goes on to describe how she gradually became more involved in anti-trans activism, opposing bills in Scotland that recognized the validity of trans people’s gender identity. She described how she feels persecuted for how people are reacting to her views and how she is ultimately glad that she came out with her anti-trans screeds.

“People who’d worked with me rushed to distance themselves from me or to add their public condemnation of my blasphemous views (though I should add that many former and current colleagues have been staunchly supportive),” Rowling said.

She also repeated the claim that trans people are inherently dangerous to cisgender women, something that has been repeatedly shown to be false.

“Looking back now, and notwithstanding how unpleasant it’s been at times, I see that outing myself as gender-critical brought far more positives than negatives.”

Rowling has previously stated that she’d be willing to go to prison over her misgendering trans people. She also has been accused of Holocaust denial after she questioned on social media whether trans people were persecuted under the Nazi regime, something that historians widely agree happened.

Rowling repeatedly misgendered trans newscaster India Willoughby, sending her anti-trans followers after the woman. She has condemned former colleagues like Daniel Radcliffe for their support of transgender people.

Radcliffe had said, “While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken… Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.”

Don't forget to share: