To think that JK Rowling is being very unfairly treated.

I would far prefer to widen the scope of what it means to be a man or woman eg society accepts boys dancing, girls being mechanics, parents sharing household chores. And individual cubicles for changing rooms, so everybody has privacy and dignity

^This. I was very struck by how strong the divide was between blue for boys and pink for girls when buying clothes for my DDs. It wasn't like that when I was a little bit girl in the 1970s. I used to love the colour blue (my eyes are blue). I've also always been into wearing jeans rather than skirts or dresses. Yet no one has ever questioned my gender identity.

@NoraEphronsNeck well done you for taking it further but honestly his behaviour is appalling!!

A throwaway comment & no harm done? He just stood up in a room of 60 people and said JKR was anti trans which is a lie & shows he hasn’t read what she said.

He then said on email and only to you because you pointed out he was wrong that is was a throwaway comment & no harm was done. But he’s not emailed all the people in that room and said he was wrong has he?

Now everyone in that room thinks there’s no point in raising anything pro women because they’ll be written off as transphobic by the senior management

It’s outrageous!

After that Guardian date, IIRC the woman decided she didn't want a second date.

She then posted on twitter, I think it was, saying how she was completely TWAW & anyone outraged on her behalf could shove off with their transphobia as they didn't speak for her, her date had been lovely & all was well with her.

Ok, fine.

She still got jumped on by TRAs because having politely cancelled a second date, she was obviously being a horrible transphobe.

As PPs have said, only total capitulation is enough.

People born as men lived their whole lives as females

But what does this MEAN? The only ways I have lived my life as a female have been biology related - menstruating, being pregnant, giving birth, breastfeeding. Everything else has been neutral stuff.

"As a female" in the case of trans-identified males so often relies on stereotypes. Wearing skirts and heels and makeup.

I'm sorry, but I'm not about to throw my own and my daughter's rights away for lipstick and skirts.

I used to support The Guardian and some other newspapers.
It’s horrific to see how low they have gone. Setting up a lesbian with a trans woman on a blind date, without telling the woman!

@Impatiens YANBU and I truly LOATHE all this 'cancel culture' bollocks.

All of the twitter sheep have jumped upon the 'hate JK' bandwagon, and even several young people I know who were MASSIVE fans of Harry Potter, and lived for it during their childhood, have joined in too.

I am also disgusted with the young stars of the films, especially Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe. They were made huge stars because of JK Rowling, and yet they jumped on the 'JK is transphobic' bandwagon, and agreed she should be 'cancelled.'

Utterly vile, the way some people have behaved towards her.

These 'woke' far left types claim to be so tolerant and lovely, and promote the #bekind narrative, and yet some of them are most vile and repugnant people. I saw someone not so long back, wishing death - DEATH - on Kate Bush, because they discovered she was a Tory.

Then there are the 'jokes' and 'hilarious' comments that alternative comedians come out with, like Jo Brand saying she wants to throw acid in Nigel Farage, and not milkshake as someone had done. And oh how people laughed, because threatening to scar someone for life, and give them life changing injuries is soooooooo funny.

Only when it's a left-wing 'comedian' saying it about someone who is 'right of centre' or right wing though. Imagine if Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage said they would like to throw acid in the face of Jeremy Corbyn or Nicola Sturgeon. Imagine the outrage from 'the lefties.'

Anyone who thinks these hateful and abusive comments coming from left-wing 'comedians' are funny, is a disgusting, hate-filled moron.

Ms Rowling is a woman, ie adult human female, of outstanding courage and talent. More power to her elbow.

The treatment she has received following her essay is appalling.

I didn't say anything but spent the rest of the meeting compiling an email with the links to what she actually said.

I sent the email to him and to our male D&I 'champion' - with some trepidation it has to be said.

I got an email back saying it had been a throwaway comment and no harm done.

We had a little back-and-forth but all very polite. I then looked at my diary and realised I had a meeting with both of them a few hours later, just the three of us.

I brought it up at the beginning of that meeting and they conceded, begrudgingly, that pro-women did not mean anti-trans.

Not sure how much good it did but at least they'll think twice about saying that again in front of a 'room' full of people.

YANBU I think she's brilliant.

It gives me the rage that black people, religious minorities and women have been oppressed for centuries and very slow progress has been made

But when men want to be women, we hardly dare question it for fear of being hounded

I would far prefer to widen the scope of what it means to be a man or woman eg society accepts boys dancing, girls being mechanics, parents sharing household chores. And individual cubicles for changing rooms, so everybody has privacy and dignity

So true

JK Rowling is standing up for women- good for her.

Trying to consider trans women as women is not just harmful potentially to women, especially women-only spaces, but also for trans women, whose different health/disease risks could be ignored as well as the different kinds of hatred and ill-treatment they can and probably do face.

I wonder if much of the debate or attempt to make it a non-debate is driven by people who are not born male and wish to be female, but people who see it as the next 'woke' thing to support.

for some of the regulars that believe the mantras of who are women but find themselves not supporting one or two aspects of fully accepting males as exactly the same as women such as refuges, prisons, sports etc. you are also transphobic according to these groups definitions.

They don't care about degrees of wrongthink, either, so if you expressed your reservations on Twitter, no matter how much you qualified it, you'd get the same abuse as Rowling and other GC women do.

Mumoftwoinprimary - "And Jo Rowling is a Gryffindor". Love this.
I don't fully understand the trans debate and what she said seemed to be a useful contribution.

I have to say though, I think she's guilty of lazy stereotypes in the Harry Potter books about Irish and Asian people and a bit tokenistic about black people.
Seamus Finnegan is a bit of a traveller- type, Mad Eye Mooney is on the drink (turned out to be polyjuice, but always necking it), Luna Lovegood is away with the fairies as is her father....... on the other hand Michael Gambon played Dumbledore with a slight Irish accent but I don't think that's in the books!

I too noticed that none of the posters saying she is transphobic or parse it to she says transphobic things have even bothered to show the example or to define it.

That is the problem. When you read a couple of the lobby groups list of what constitutes transphobia, it includes such gems like even suggesting there is a conflict of prioritization between women’s rights and trans rights.

And by the way, for some of the regulars that believe the mantras of who are women but find themselves not supporting one or two aspects of fully accepting males as exactly the same as women such as refuges, prisons, sports etc. you are also transphobic according to these groups definitions. (Or is it when you calls others transphobic, you are aware of this and are projecting)

The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

JK Rowling makes absolute sense. Good on her!

print I wonder if it’s the same family know. Pronouns of “they” since toddlers. Odd declarations on social media. Transitioning at young ages. Declarations they are hated.

Poor poor kids. Social services and school too terrified to touch. Intelligent middle class parents with their own agenda.

I have huge support for older teens going through this. But it must be from the teen themselves. There is no protection for these kids

You ANBU. JKR stood up for women and girls while eloquently showing her compassion for trans people. She should be lionized.

I think that there is a lobby now which conflates any questioning or difference of opinion as transphobia. Like the lobby which rolls up not agreeing with Israeli policies with anti Semitism. We are losing a lot of nuance, and enabling those at the extreme end of the view point (whatever that is) to dictate terms. Which then closes down any discussion. Which is really scary.

And that's exactly what the vilification of JKR is - an attempt to shut down discussion. Can someone please point me in the direction of evidence of her supposed transphobia because everywhere I've looked for it (including this thread) hasn't turned up a single solitary example. And yet the accusations persist. Why is that? Could it be that JKR's heartfelt and personal essay is being misrepresented by those with a dishonest agenda...

Personally, I still love the H Potter books and the films - in spite of the views about JKR recently expressed by some of the actors. But I'd recommend the Strike series for those who prefer something a bit more adult. Gripping stories, excellently written.

JKR is Queen.

She was so vilified for speaking common sense. It was awful how so many in the public eye turned against her when she spoke sense.

As no one has managed to explain why they think her views are transphobic, I’m supporting her right to free speech. I’m showing that support by buying her books as gifts for birthdays / Christmas etc.

Of course YANBU, OP.