On Saturday, J.K. Rowling angered and disappointed many by dropping a tweet thread filled with controversial comments about trans people. In the days since, a number of actors associated with her works — and in some cases wouldn’t have careers or their wealth without the Harry Potter-verse — came out in defense of the people she was targeting. First came Daniel Radcliffe, then Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne. On Wednesday Emma Watson, the erstwhile Hermione Granger, joined them.
While Radcliffe made his statement on The Trevor Project, the non-profit devoted to suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth, and Redmayne released his to Variety, Watson went straight to Twitter.
Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) June 10, 2020
“Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are,” Watson wrote. She continued:
Happy #PRIDE2020 Sending love x
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) June 10, 2020
“I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are,” Watson added, noting the number of Potter fans among the trans and non-binary communities, who’ve made their hurt and anger well-known since Saturday. Watson also asked people to donate to the U.K. charity Mermaids, which supports gender diverse and trans children, and the feminist fund Mama Cash. She ended by celebrating Pride 2020 and “sending love.”
Despite the pushback from fans and a growing number of actors, Rowling has not retracted or apologized for her comments. Instead, earlier on Wednesday, she released an open letter in which she attempted to defend her statements while talking about the mistreatment of women.