JK Rowling has slammed a new law which lets rapists self-identify as women, and it’s caused a huge online debate

“jk rowling is a bad person w/ bad politics, a childish understanding of feminism and a truly ugly spirit. it’s embarrassing to look at her tweets. it’s upsetting to watch her harm marginalized people. it’s infuriating to me as a feminist, as an assault survivor and as a woman,” said comedian, writer and critic Jourdain Searles.

The law in question and Rowling’s response to it has indeed sparked debate, with others including trans teacher Debbie Hayton defending the author and writing: “Rowling’s quote was apt. We are in a world where fantasy is displacing reality,” for politically conservative title, The Spectator. 

The hashtag #IStandWithJKRowling has also been trending, with Tweets from those who support the author’s stance on the new law. 

As mentioned, this is not the first time JK Rowling has shared views that have been controversial, many of which have angered and upset marginalised communities, including trans people. 

In 2019, she shared her support for researcher Maya Forstater, who was fired from the Centre for Global Development for tweeting anti-trans sentiment such as “men cannot change into women.”

In 2020, Rowling then took to Twitter again to take issue with the phrase “people who menstruate” in an article. In comments that were later deemed transphobic (and dismissive to those who are transgender, non-binary and non-gender conforming), she said: “’People who menstruate’. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”