JK Rowling, the celebrated author of the Harry Potter series, has sparked controversy with her views on gender. In a recent post on X, Rowling criticized gender ideology, claiming that it has undermined fundamental rights, such as free speech, scientific truth, and the safety and dignity of women and children. At the core of her argument was the assertion that “sex is real and matters,” a sentiment that resonated with many, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk replied to Rowling’s post with a simple but powerful “Absolutely,” showing his agreement with her stance.
What JK Rowling said on gender ideology
In her post, Rowling argues: “This ‘why do you care about a tiny fraction of the population?’ line is, and always was, utterly ridiculous.” She writes that gender ideology has caused “irreparable physical damage to vulnerable kids” and has been pushed through society by powerful figures, including politicians, healthcare bodies, celebrities, and the media.
She also pointed out the harms she believes it has caused to women’s rights, privacy, and safety, specifically highlighting how some men—”both trans-identified and not—have used the movement to gain access to spaces previously reserved for women.”
Rowling’s comments have reignited debates about the tension between gender identity rights and the rights of women and children.
Here’s the full text of her post
This ‘why do you care about a tiny fraction of the population?’ line is, and always was, utterly ridiculous.
Gender ideology has undermined freedom of speech, scientific truth, gay rights, and women’s and girls’ safety, privacy and dignity. It’s also caused irreparable physical damage to vulnerable kids.
Nobody voted for it, the vast majority of people disagree with it, yet it has been imposed, top down, by politicians, healthcare bodies, academia, sections of the media, celebrities and even the police. Its activists have threatened and enacted violence on those who’ve dared oppose it. People have been defamed and discriminated against for questioning it. Jobs have been lost and lives have been ruined, all for the crime of knowing that sex is real and matters.
When the smoke clears, it will be only too evident that this was never about a so-called vulnerable minority, notwithstanding the fact that some very vulnerable people have been harmed. The power dynamics underpinning our society have been reinforced, not dismantled. The loudest voices throughout this entire fiasco have been people insulated from consequences by their wealth and/or status. They aren’t likely to find themselves locked in a prison cell with a 6’4″ rapist who’s decided his name’s now Dolores. They don’t need state-funded rape crisis centres, nor do they ever frequent high street changing rooms. They simper from talk show sofas about those nasty far-right bigots who don’t want penises swinging around the girls’ showers, secure in the knowledge that their private pool remains the safe place it always was.
Those who’ve benefited most from gender identity ideology are men, both trans-identified and not. Some have been rewarded for having a cross-dressing kink by access to all spaces previously reserved for women. Others have parlayed their delicious new victim status into an excuse to threaten, assault and harass women. Non-trans-identified leftybros have found a magnificent platform from which to display their own impeccably progressive credentials, by jeering and sneering at the needs of women and girls, all while patting themselves on the back for giving away rights that aren’t theirs.
The actual victims in this mess have been women and children, especially the most vulnerable, gay people who’ve resisted the movement and paid a horrible price, and regular people working in environments where one misplaced pronoun could see you vilified or constructively dismissed. Do not tell me this is about a tiny minority. This movement has impacted society in disastrous ways, and if you had any sense, you’d be quietly deleting every trace of activist mantras, ad hominem attacks, false equivalence and circular arguments from your X feeds, because the day is fast approaching when you’ll want to pretend you always saw through the craziness and never believed it for a second.