0
Following J K Rowling’s transphobic tweets on June 6th, Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter movies based on Rowling’s books, has spoken out on the matter. He posted his response on The Trevor Project’s website, an organisation which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services, to LGBTQ+ youth.
Radcliffe opened the response by saying “I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now. While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment.”.
He continued by stating “Transgender women are women.”, something many fans will be overjoyed to hear from the actor, he also backed up his statement, by pointing out its the opinion shared by ‘professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I’, and providing statistics on the percentage of trans and non binary youth who have faced discrimination because of their gender identity.
Radcliffe goes on, saying he is ‘still learning how to be a better ally’, and providing a link, to help others educate themselves on being an ally to transgender and non binary youth, just as he is.
It’s his final paragraph that truly hit home for many fans though, he finished off his response with “To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you.
If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.”
For those who grew up with the books and movies, using them to navigate difficult times, or to help them find who they are, it likely means much more now, to know that Daniel Radcliffe is understanding and supportive of who they are, even if the woman who wrote the messages, and morals, we found in the pages, isn’t.
Perhaps J K Rowling will choose to educate herself from here, in the same way the actor has, and will be able to accept her fans for who they are.