J.K. Rowling’s latest round of controversial comments about trans people (“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased”) led to a renewed backlash against the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts author. Very quickly, Daniel Radcliffe expresesd disagreement with Rowling, and Eddie Redmayne, followed suit. Rowling’s latest book, The Ickabog, appeared to be in jeopardy when Hatchette employees threatened to stop working on the book, and now, some of Rowling’s fellow authors don’t want to be associated with her literary agency.
Variety reports that four authors from the U.K.’s The Blair Partnership are outta there. Among them are Drew Davies, Ugla Stefanía Kristjonudottir Jonsdottir, and Fox Fisher, who all resigned while stressing that their decision was not an easy one and issuing the following statement:
“After J. K. Rowling’s public comments on transgender issues, we reached out to the agency with an invitation to reaffirm their stance to transgender rights and equality. After our talks with them, we felt that they were unable to commit to any action that we thought was appropriate and meaningful.”
The authors continued while claiming that freedom of speech should not be valued at the expense of further oppression of underrepresented groups. They also feel that both publishers and agencies must make meaningful change and offer platforms for these groups, and it’s clear that they’re not onboard with The Blair Partnership’s response to the Rowling matter.
Days after Rowling’s latest round of anti-trans tweets, she penned a lengthy essay, in which she elaborated upon her unchanged point of view. After stating that “accusations of TERFery have been sufficient to intimidate many people,” she wrote at length about her “five reasons for being worried about the new trans activism.”
(Via Variety)