In Defiance of Gender Ideology

The outcry against the transgender movement didn’t reach a critical mass in the United States until 2023, but it was already on the decline across the pond thanks in large part to J.K. Rowling. She who found herself in the crosshairs of trans activists as the result of a series of tweets that started in December 2019.

The famed author of the Harry Potter books, who was not unused to controversy, caused a firestorm when she tweeted her support of Maya Forstater, a researcher who lost her job for stating on her social media that men cannot change their biological sex. Rowling came to her defense and was quickly labeled a transphobe and a TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminist).

Over the next few months, Rowling shared her views sporadically on social media, each time refusing to back down; each time, she was met with name calling and vitriol because what the trans activists feared was coming true. Rowling’s act of wading into the culture war gave power to the people. Now that one of the richest women in the world was speaking up, it emboldened many who felt bullied into silence by trans activists and cancel culture.

Then in June 2020 she posted a lengthy essay on her website, entitled “J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues.” There she outlined the dangers of gender ideology, especially regarding women’s rights and the need to protect single-sex spaces like locker rooms and prisons from biological men who said they were women. Rowling also expressed grave concerns about the sudden and overwhelming spike in the number of young girls who were medically transitioning.

As expected, trans activists and several films stars of the Harry Potter franchise united to denounce her for her gender critical views in a concerted effort to cancel the beloved author. Having lived through previous attempts to cancel her before cancel culture was even a thing, Rowling was undaunted by the hullabaloo.

Decades earlier, Rowling was the object of scorn because her wildly popular books were accused of promoting witchcraft; as a result, her books were banned in some places. Now, with her new label of transphobe, Rowling was not only the most popular living author, but she was the one who survived the most cancellation attempts. This time it was ardent Harry Potter fans—not critics of the books—who were not only calling for them to be banned but were burning the books and posting videos of this on social media to spite her.

Rowling admitted that those closest to her pleaded with her not to be public about her belief that trans women are not women. In an interview on the compelling 2023 podcast series, The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, she shared the history of her tumultuous first marriage that included domestic violence and emotional abuse. This provided a moral imperative for Rowling to speak up about the erosion of women’s rights even though she knew the consequences of sticking her neck out would be horrible and, by her own admission, they were. She would rather be able to look herself in the mirror than remain silent on an issue that was insidious and misogynistic. Not speaking up would be tantamount to abandoning vulnerable women whose single-sex spaces, including prisons and rape crisis centers, were being invaded by biological men.

Because the Harry Potter franchise was a global sensation, the fury directed at Rowling for her allegedly anti-trans views made world headlines and, in a twist of irony, worked against the activists who wanted to destroy her legacy. The mass scale smear attempt for her commonsensical ideas backfired because it vicariously permitted others to take a stand.

While Rowling was not the only dissenting voice who considered herself progressive, she was arguably the most famous. The list of left-leaning celebrities who have been criticized for speaking out against gender ideology include talk show host Bill Maher, comedians Dave Chapelle and Ricky Jervais, and tennis champion Martina Navratilova.

Eventually even Bruce Jenner, hailed as the hero of the transgender movement for his very public transition in 2015, was also emboldened to speak up against his own trans community for supporting biological males to compete in female sports. Other well-known influencers like Buck Angel and Blaire White joined the fray, advocating against the medicalization of children despite being transgender themselves.

Never before has a coalition of left-leaning celebrities, feminists, and even some homosexual and transgender people aligned with Christians and other faith groups as well as non-religious conservatives to oppose an issue. With common sense, biological reality and even God on their side, the future was looking bright.