I'm really glad to see that #HogwartsLegacy is doing well in spite of the hysterical campaign by misguided tech journos, which actually helped promote it! All because @jk_rowling is mistakenly perceived to be transphobic. It's insane.
@jasonetheridge She is transphobic—that's not really in an awful lot of doubt.
@hughster It's certainly the zeitgeist. When I've looked at what she's said, the theme is consistently protecting the rights of natal women, particularly against natal men. She has no animus for trans people generally, and genuinely supports their human rights. I don't believe that makes her transphobic, but rather a feminist who won't sacrifice women's rights.
@jasonetheridge Just in case that's needed, some context for each:
1. Palmer (another notorious anti-trans activist) is stating that trans women saying they're women or trans men saying they're men is a "reality-denying cult". Rowling liked it.
2. This user is abusing the Vagina Museum with vile language simply for talking about trans women, quite explicitly calling them "males" and stating that talking about them is "dick pandering". Rowling liked it.
@jasonetheridge 3. This user is stating that being trans, which they conflate with gender dysphoria, is a "mental health disorder" and that allowing people to transition in order to treat it is "gender shopping" and therefore "madness". Rowling liked it.
4. This user is directly calling trans women "men in dresses", a transphobic slur as old as time. Rowling liked it.
@hughster Is that the entire corpus of evidence? That she 'liked' the tweets of an individual with questionable views? What has she said publicly that could be considered transphobic?
@jasonetheridge Oh no, this is far from it. These are just four examples. There are hundreds more, each from different individuals.
And these views are a bit worse than "questionable": they're all explicitly transphobic. Rowling chose to react to explicit transphobia by liking it, over and over and over again. Who else but a transphobe would do that?
She's usually quite careful not to post explicitly transphobic things herself and couches her language in terms of "reasonable concerns".
@hughster That's too indirect for me. I choose to interpret who beliefs and position based upon her own words, in her 2020 essay, and what she's said publicly. I understand this is an unfashionable position, and could be considered wrongthink, but I can't violate my own sense of integrity by doing otherwise.
@jasonetheridge Then you're choosing to ignore the fact that she endorses explicitly transphobic statements. Who does that who isn't transphobic?
OK then, here's an example of her using her own words to directly repeat an explicitly transphobic statement (from another notorious transphobe, one of her friends):
@jasonetheridge Oh, she certainly does have animus for trans people!
Here's just a headline sample of the kind of things she's "liked", just because I have these screenshots to hand: