Author J.K. Rowling is facing backlash this week from transgender rights activists and their supporters. On Twitter, she supported a British woman who lost her job earlier this year after old tweets surfaced where she stated biological men could not be women.
Here’s what prompted Rowling to weigh in:
There is no legal right to question whether a trans-gender person is a man or a woman, an employment tribunal has ruled.Maya Forstater, 45, lost her job as a tax expert at the Centre for Global Development in March this year after she was accused of publishing “offensive” tweets questioning government proposals to allow people to self-identify as the opposite sex.Her legal dispute against her former employer was seen as a test case on whether a “gender critical” view – meaning a belief that there are only two biological sexes – is a protected philosophical belief under the 2010 Equality Act.However, in the landmark judgment published yesterday, employment Judge Tayler decided Ms Forstater’s view “is incompatible with human dignity and fundamental rights of others”.
Here are some of the tweets that landed Forstater in hot water with both her (now-former) employer and social justice warriors on the left:
Forstater’s opinion about transgender rights in the context of a discussion about women’s rights is not uncommon among women, in spite of what the mainstream media and leftists will tell you. As she wrote in a piece defending herself from accusations that she was transphobic, Forstater noted she was “also a feminist” but was “concerned about the impact of self ID on women and girls”:
Like most people I agree that transgender people should not face discrimination and harassment as they live their lives. But I am concerned about the impact of self ID on women and girls, and in particular on single sex spaces and services such as women’s refuges, hostels, prisons, changing rooms and hospital wards, as well as women’s sports.I am concerned that governments around the world are rushing through laws and policies which say that people with male bodies can become women simply by identifying as women. This is happening without adequate consultation or consideration for the impact on women’s privacy, safety and inclusion.
There is absolutely nothing transphobic about that. Zero. These are legitimate concerns women have about their safety, security, and overall well-being. These worries are also shared by men, especially those who count women among their loved ones.
We should also note that Forstater was stating her personal political opinions on the matter on her own Twitter page. Plus, she wasn’t in a managerial or other position that allowed her to set policy.
She was discriminated against, fired for WrongThink, and for having the audacity to question why people squelched scientific arguments in the transgender rights debate. To make matters worse, an employment tribunal upheld her firing.
Rowling, who is the author of the wildly popular Harry Potter book series, stood with Forstater in a tweet posted this morning:
Forstater was understandably excited to receive Rowling’s support:
Others, however, were not amused. As a result of that one simple tweet, Rowling has “been officially canceled” according to “woke” leftists on Twitter. “JK Rowling” and the term “TERF” have both trended most of the day as transgender “women,” and their allies unleashed hell on Rowling:
Here’s just a small sampling of some of the hate that has been flung in her direction (language warning):
TERF stands for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. Tran activists use it as a derogatory insult against women who disagree with them. Still, in reality, it is another word for feminists on the left who oppose certain transgender rights on the basis that they effectively nullify women’s rights.
Rowling, who is otherwise about as far removed from a conservative as you can get, is not the only high profile woman on the left who has faced the wrath of militant transgender rights activists this year. Hillary Clinton triggered the mob in recent weeks for benign comments she made that people equated to “fearmongering,” which some suggested would put transgender lives in danger.
As I wrote at the time, nothing short of total surrender to the trans mob’s demands is acceptable. Tennis great and LGBTQ rights pioneer Martina Navratilova also learned this the hard way back in March when she dared to speak out against allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports.
As far as what the future holds for Forstater, she wrote a lengthy Twitter thread expressing disbelief over the tribunal’s ruling but is weighing options with her legal team to determine the next steps to take.
Stay tuned.
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