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What has JK Rowling said or done that’s transphobic

1000 replies

Ducketta · 08/09/2026 13:26

Another thread has said that they don’t want their thread to be derailed. Y HK Rowling and morals, so I’ll start one. Can anyone please tell me what JK Rowling has ever said or done that’s transphobic? Please be specific and outline how she has been offensive to trans people and not just been protective women and girls hard fought right to separate single sex spaces.

I cannot find anything whatsoever that she has done wrong. Nothing. Nada. And yet this JK Rowling = queen of transphobia myth persists. And it’s bloody tiresome.

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Ereshkigalangcleg · 11/09/2026 14:40

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:29

pick me is a misogynistic insult.

It’s not nice, no, but nor is throwing the rights of other women and girls under the bus to pander to a group of men, many of whom hate women.

Terfarina · 11/09/2026 14:40

Call me a transphobe or say my ideas are transphobic - same same and I don’t care.

I don’t respect the idea that a subset of males are women because no one has ever been able to explain to me how an adult human male is really an adult human female.

a woman is an adult human female with any likes, interests, personality or sartorial choices.

there is no mystical essence of indefinable womanhood that some men have - wanting something to be true doesn’t make it so

women are not simply substandard men, no amount of surgery or medication can turn a man into an adult human female

if a subset of males wants refuge from other males that is not women’s problem to solve, welcome to the world of feeling scared of men (we dint care how you dress, you are scary to us)

Rollingpinofdoom · 11/09/2026 14:37

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:34

It is not remotely misogynistic to recognise that trans people’s experiences are real.

On the other hand calling a woman a 'pick me' because they disagree with you, is a highly misogynistic way of dismissing her.

Well yes it is misogynistic. I mean, you seem to be claiming that “woman” is just a feeling and not related to female biology, therefore women could have identified out of their oppression at any time just by identifying as men. So they are complicit in their own oppression. You’ve just done the TRA equivalent of “she could have said no at any time but she didn’t so it’s her own fault”. Disgustingly misogynistic. Do better.

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:34

Rollingpinofdoom · 11/09/2026 14:31

What, as misogynistic as claiming woman is just a feeling in a man’s head? Or that women don’t deserve single sex spaces because some men want to go into those spaces? You’re the one arguing a man can be a woman if he “feels” like one so I’d go easy on calling other people misogynistic if I were you….

It is not remotely misogynistic to recognise that trans people’s experiences are real.

On the other hand calling a woman a 'pick me' because they disagree with you, is a highly misogynistic way of dismissing her.

Rollingpinofdoom · 11/09/2026 14:31

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:29

pick me is a misogynistic insult.

What, as misogynistic as claiming woman is just a feeling in a man’s head? Or that women don’t deserve single sex spaces because some men want to go into those spaces? You’re the one arguing a man can be a woman if he “feels” like one so I’d go easy on calling other people misogynistic if I were you….

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:29

Ereshkigalangcleg · 11/09/2026 14:12

Me too, most of the time. I find the second hand embarrassment for the Carla Denyers, Kate Nashs, Deborah Francis-White pick me women of this world too much to stomach sometimes though.

pick me is a misogynistic insult.

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:28

BackToLurk · 11/09/2026 14:07

Is believing that "transwomen are men" or that "transwomen are not women" an example of holding transphobic ideas?

It depends what you mean by those statements. If by ‘trans women are men’ you simply mean that trans women may have been born with male-typical reproductive anatomy and do not share all of the same physical characteristics as the majority of women, then no, I would not automatically call that transphobic.

If what you mean is that trans experience is not real, that trans women are merely men pretending or ‘cosplaying’ as women, that their identities are fundamentally false, etc, then yes — I would regard that as transphobic, because it moves beyond acknowledging anatomical differences and into denying or denigrating trans people’s identity and experience.

Rollingpinofdoom · 11/09/2026 14:25

Ereshkigalangcleg · 11/09/2026 14:12

Me too, most of the time. I find the second hand embarrassment for the Carla Denyers, Kate Nashs, Deborah Francis-White pick me women of this world too much to stomach sometimes though.

It dies me, but then I just think, at least I’m not that stupid and desperate for brownie points I’d give away women’s rights.

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:12

Ereshkigalangcleg · 11/09/2026 14:09

As I said, I don’t care.

ok

Ereshkigalangcleg · 11/09/2026 14:12

Rollingpinofdoom · 11/09/2026 14:00

Not really no. I find it quite funny.

Me too, most of the time. I find the second hand embarrassment for the Carla Denyers, Kate Nashs, Deborah Francis-White pick me women of this world too much to stomach sometimes though.

StellaAndCrow · 11/09/2026 14:11

Terfarina · 11/09/2026 13:27

Does anyone really care about being called trans phobic anymore? We are told that pretty much everything is tranphobic: knowing that women are adult human females, that biology is real, most importantly- saying no to men larping as women.

if I am described as a transphobe now I am not going to tie myself in knots trying to prove that I am not as these men are never satisfied.

You cancall me what you want, dude - any pronoun, transphobe whatever. And I will refer to you by your biological sex. I hate compelled speech.

Yes, here's a handy list of things that are transphobic - it's from 2019 so I'm sure there's much more now . . .

https://wingsoverscotland.com/everything-is-transphobic/

Everything is transphobic

The modern world is an ideological minefield, readers, and is increasingly almost as dangerous as a real one. Having the wrong opinions about things can easily get you fired, ostracised from polite…

https://wingsoverscotland.com/everything-is-transphobic/

Ereshkigalangcleg · 11/09/2026 14:09

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:01

I don’t think identifying transphobic ideas is the same as ‘calling someone names’. Transphobia describes a pattern of beliefs or arguments that are rooted in prejudice, stereotyping or misunderstanding about trans people.

Calling out those ideas is not necessarily an attack on someone’s character. It is criticism of the content of what they are saying and the assumptions it rests on.

People are of course free to reject that view of their ideas.

As I said, I don’t care.

BackToLurk · 11/09/2026 14:07

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:01

I don’t think identifying transphobic ideas is the same as ‘calling someone names’. Transphobia describes a pattern of beliefs or arguments that are rooted in prejudice, stereotyping or misunderstanding about trans people.

Calling out those ideas is not necessarily an attack on someone’s character. It is criticism of the content of what they are saying and the assumptions it rests on.

People are of course free to reject that view of their ideas.

Is believing that "transwomen are men" or that "transwomen are not women" an example of holding transphobic ideas?

FlirtsWithRhinos · 11/09/2026 14:04

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:01

I don’t think identifying transphobic ideas is the same as ‘calling someone names’. Transphobia describes a pattern of beliefs or arguments that are rooted in prejudice, stereotyping or misunderstanding about trans people.

Calling out those ideas is not necessarily an attack on someone’s character. It is criticism of the content of what they are saying and the assumptions it rests on.

People are of course free to reject that view of their ideas.

And people are also, of course, free to reject your assertations about what constitutes transphobia in the first place.

And also, to hold the view that your ideas are sexist and detrimental to female people's ability to exist in society on our own terms.

FlirtsWithRhinos · 11/09/2026 14:02

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 13:08

Prison statistics are often very skewed relative to the wider population because imprisonment is not a random sample of society. Differences in socioeconomic disadvantage, homelessness, substance use, mental-health problems, exposure to violence, policing, criminalisation, sentencing, age profile and routes into custody can all affect who ends up in prison.

So if trans women make up a larger share of transgender prisoners than they do of the wider trans population, that tells you that the pathways into imprisonment differ between groups. It does not, by itself, tell you why they differ, and it certainly does not let you infer the offending rate of trans women in the general population without a proper denominator and comparable population data.

here may well be differences in offending patterns between trans women and trans men, and some of those differences could plausibly relate to sex-linked physical or developmental factors. But we do not have the population-level evidence needed to establish the offending rate of trans women or trans men in the general population from prison statistics alone.

And I don't agree with naturalising sexual violence as though it simply flows from chromosomes, hormones or genitals. Sexual violence is shaped by social, behavioural and situational factors, not reducible to anatomy.

For the same reason, I don’t think blanket sex segregation based solely on genital anatomy is, by itself, an adequate or evidence-based strategy for preventing sexual violence. Risk assessment, behaviour, offence history and vulnerability are far more directly relevant to safeguarding.

I don't agree with naturalising sexual violence as though it simply flows from chromosomes, hormones or genitals. Sexual violence is shaped by social, behavioural and situational factors, not reducible to anatomy.

Yes! You are sooooo close!

One of the most significant ways in which society shapes us is in how others, personally and culturally, react to us, frame us, place expectations on us, present role models and limitations for us, because of our physical sex. Not our own perception of ourselves but how others see us and treat us. We don't even need to know that is what is driving it to nevertheless suffer the consequences.

The body is the crucible of the mind. The mind experiences the world through the body, and what happens to the body, directly or through what we experience because of it, shapes the mind.

And even your putative perfect trans person, the one not in any way influenced by social factors in forming their transgender identity, but simply suffering some sort of colourblindness or phantom limb effect in their ability to perceive of their own sex, is not immune from this.

This is why even if you believe, as I do, that social factors shape the population differences we see between male and female choices and behaviours at least as must as any internal sex-based nature, it is still never going to be true that a trans identifying male person has the same needs and challenges, risks to consider, opportunities available and fenced off, understanding of self and of possibilities, than a person whose self was formed living in the world in a female body. The things women need, even when it's due to social factors not purely physical, we need because we are female.

I would love to hope, some day in the future, there is a world where male people are not socialised to treat female people as they currently are, and female people are not socialised to expect it and accept it. (Though sadly, I think the pornifiction of society is taking us the other way). But until we get there, we cannot pretend that our sex is not a factor in the way our lives proceed.

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 14:01

Ereshkigalangcleg · 11/09/2026 13:32

Yes that’s pretty much where I’m at too, @Terfarina- I don’t respect the opinions of people who think a group of men should be classed as women, they can’t back up their arguments or convince anyone of these supposedly strongly held views because there is no reasoned argument at all.

At best they’re tragically naive, at worst they have their own psychological reasons for attacking women and coddling men. It’s just special pleading and it’s misogyny in action. So I don’t care that they call me names.

I don’t think identifying transphobic ideas is the same as ‘calling someone names’. Transphobia describes a pattern of beliefs or arguments that are rooted in prejudice, stereotyping or misunderstanding about trans people.

Calling out those ideas is not necessarily an attack on someone’s character. It is criticism of the content of what they are saying and the assumptions it rests on.

People are of course free to reject that view of their ideas.

Rollingpinofdoom · 11/09/2026 14:00

Terfarina · 11/09/2026 13:27

Does anyone really care about being called trans phobic anymore? We are told that pretty much everything is tranphobic: knowing that women are adult human females, that biology is real, most importantly- saying no to men larping as women.

if I am described as a transphobe now I am not going to tie myself in knots trying to prove that I am not as these men are never satisfied.

You cancall me what you want, dude - any pronoun, transphobe whatever. And I will refer to you by your biological sex. I hate compelled speech.

Not really no. I find it quite funny.

Pingponghavoc · 11/09/2026 13:59

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 13:29

Yes, I stand by it. I did not say sex is irrelevant to prison placement, nor did I say ‘put men in women’s prisons because of feelings’. I said that blanket segregation based solely on genital anatomy is not, by itself, a sufficient safeguarding strategy.

Physical strength, anatomy and birth sex can absolutely be relevant to risk. So can offence history, sexual offending, violence, behaviour in custody, vulnerability, medical transition and the risks posed to and by the individual prisoner.

Women in prison are often highly vulnerable, and their safety matters enormously. That's why I favour a meaningful individual risk assessment rather than pretending that one anatomical characteristic tells you everything you need to know about risk.

More generally, men and women coexist throughout society and segregating people by anatomy is not a meaningful solution to preventing sexual violence. In fact, highly sex-segregated societies are often also characterised by stronger gender hierarchy, restrictions on women’s autonomy and more rigid gender norms — factors that are associated with higher levels of violence against women. Sexual violence happens most often within intimate relationships between people who know each other.

Prisons are obviously a highly specific context in which the safeguarding threshold is obviously very different — but that does not mean anatomy should be the only criterion.

Sex isnt the only consideration in prisons, some women cannot be with the general population in prisons due to their age and other risk factors.

Its madness to claim to be strengthening safeguarding by removing sex. Which is what you are saying.

You are claiming that separate facilities are required by sex, but some men can use women's facilities. Thats weakening safeguarding, not strengthening it.

Think about it in terms of age. We have groups by age. If an adult joined the under 15s group, it does matter his intent, safeguarding has been compromised.

Just as the children's group stops being a children group if adults can join, a women's space stops being a women's space if men join. The safeguarding has to change to acknowledge that its a mixed sex spaces.

We cannot assume a self defined sub group is different to the group.

Thechickenhasmypillow · 11/09/2026 13:36

No.
The risk assessments have been done already.
Women are at much bigger risk from men. So men are housed separately.
It doesn't need analysing and assessment.

"One Anatomical characteristic"

No. All of them.

What a ridiculous idea.

Luckily you are not in charge of any of the points you've made and never will be.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 11/09/2026 13:32

Yes that’s pretty much where I’m at too, @Terfarina- I don’t respect the opinions of people who think a group of men should be classed as women, they can’t back up their arguments or convince anyone of these supposedly strongly held views because there is no reasoned argument at all.

At best they’re tragically naive, at worst they have their own psychological reasons for attacking women and coddling men. It’s just special pleading and it’s misogyny in action. So I don’t care that they call me names.

BunfightBetty · 11/09/2026 13:31

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 13:29

Yes, I stand by it. I did not say sex is irrelevant to prison placement, nor did I say ‘put men in women’s prisons because of feelings’. I said that blanket segregation based solely on genital anatomy is not, by itself, a sufficient safeguarding strategy.

Physical strength, anatomy and birth sex can absolutely be relevant to risk. So can offence history, sexual offending, violence, behaviour in custody, vulnerability, medical transition and the risks posed to and by the individual prisoner.

Women in prison are often highly vulnerable, and their safety matters enormously. That's why I favour a meaningful individual risk assessment rather than pretending that one anatomical characteristic tells you everything you need to know about risk.

More generally, men and women coexist throughout society and segregating people by anatomy is not a meaningful solution to preventing sexual violence. In fact, highly sex-segregated societies are often also characterised by stronger gender hierarchy, restrictions on women’s autonomy and more rigid gender norms — factors that are associated with higher levels of violence against women. Sexual violence happens most often within intimate relationships between people who know each other.

Prisons are obviously a highly specific context in which the safeguarding threshold is obviously very different — but that does not mean anatomy should be the only criterion.

Keeping all males out of female prisons achieves this most efficiently. There is no need nor requirement to consider each man individually.

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 13:29

Thechickenhasmypillow · 11/09/2026 13:20

For the same reason, I don’t think blanket sex segregation based solely on genital anatomy is, by itself, an adequate or evidence-based strategy for preventing sexual violence. Risk assessment, behaviour, offence history and vulnerability are far more directly relevant to safeguarding.

You genuinely believe this statement?

Men are faster, stronger, have greater muscle mass, larger heart, larger lungs, faster reactions. It's a safety issue. There are outliers, but the vast majority of men can overpower nearly every woman.

Over 90% of all sexual crime is committed by men. And you think it's ok to pop them in prison with women?
Because of feelings?

Vulnerable women who are often in there because of the actions of men in the first place?

Yes, I stand by it. I did not say sex is irrelevant to prison placement, nor did I say ‘put men in women’s prisons because of feelings’. I said that blanket segregation based solely on genital anatomy is not, by itself, a sufficient safeguarding strategy.

Physical strength, anatomy and birth sex can absolutely be relevant to risk. So can offence history, sexual offending, violence, behaviour in custody, vulnerability, medical transition and the risks posed to and by the individual prisoner.

Women in prison are often highly vulnerable, and their safety matters enormously. That's why I favour a meaningful individual risk assessment rather than pretending that one anatomical characteristic tells you everything you need to know about risk.

More generally, men and women coexist throughout society and segregating people by anatomy is not a meaningful solution to preventing sexual violence. In fact, highly sex-segregated societies are often also characterised by stronger gender hierarchy, restrictions on women’s autonomy and more rigid gender norms — factors that are associated with higher levels of violence against women. Sexual violence happens most often within intimate relationships between people who know each other.

Prisons are obviously a highly specific context in which the safeguarding threshold is obviously very different — but that does not mean anatomy should be the only criterion.

Terfarina · 11/09/2026 13:27

Does anyone really care about being called trans phobic anymore? We are told that pretty much everything is tranphobic: knowing that women are adult human females, that biology is real, most importantly- saying no to men larping as women.

if I am described as a transphobe now I am not going to tie myself in knots trying to prove that I am not as these men are never satisfied.

You cancall me what you want, dude - any pronoun, transphobe whatever. And I will refer to you by your biological sex. I hate compelled speech.

FlirtsWithRhinos · 11/09/2026 13:24

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 12:07

Cute analogy, but it only works if you first assume that trans identity is equivalent to falsely believing a person is an inanimate object. That is the very point under dispute. So the vignette doesn’t prove anything; it just rather unsubtly hides the conclusion inside the joke.

Very smug reductio though. Very demure, very mindful. 😘

You've actually proved my point.

In only considering the trans person's assessment that they can exist as the opposite sex significant, and not the
assessment of the people whose sex the trans person is claiming to be, you are indeed taking the man's word that his wife is a hat over his wife's certainty that she is not.

BackToLurk · 11/09/2026 13:21

Lacksie · 11/09/2026 13:08

Prison statistics are often very skewed relative to the wider population because imprisonment is not a random sample of society. Differences in socioeconomic disadvantage, homelessness, substance use, mental-health problems, exposure to violence, policing, criminalisation, sentencing, age profile and routes into custody can all affect who ends up in prison.

So if trans women make up a larger share of transgender prisoners than they do of the wider trans population, that tells you that the pathways into imprisonment differ between groups. It does not, by itself, tell you why they differ, and it certainly does not let you infer the offending rate of trans women in the general population without a proper denominator and comparable population data.

here may well be differences in offending patterns between trans women and trans men, and some of those differences could plausibly relate to sex-linked physical or developmental factors. But we do not have the population-level evidence needed to establish the offending rate of trans women or trans men in the general population from prison statistics alone.

And I don't agree with naturalising sexual violence as though it simply flows from chromosomes, hormones or genitals. Sexual violence is shaped by social, behavioural and situational factors, not reducible to anatomy.

For the same reason, I don’t think blanket sex segregation based solely on genital anatomy is, by itself, an adequate or evidence-based strategy for preventing sexual violence. Risk assessment, behaviour, offence history and vulnerability are far more directly relevant to safeguarding.

You’re avoiding the point. We are told that ‘trans’ is an adjective. Like ‘Black’ or ‘disabled’. When we look at prison populations for different types of people we can see that men vastly outnumber women. Not just prison populations, also offending rates. Types of offending is also broadly similar. Suddenly we get to transpeople and this is no longer true. You are asking us to believe that this is due to some factor that affects no other population.

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