Open Letter from Autors and Entertainers in Support of JKR

It's just SO good to see so many big names join her.

Really excellent news. This is one of the things we need, for people with a profile to start speaking up. Trans allies have had not just the predominant voice, but practically the only voice when it comes to slebs being public about their views on this issue: I’m hoping this is the beginning of there being another voice in the room.

And it would be really good to see a significant number of well known actors/writers/musicians/artists etc who are not in the 50+ age bracket start to speak up. I think there are only a few of those brave souls on this list?

What a week, though!

I love Pointless. They have had several transwomen contestants on, both celebrity and non, and both Alexander and Richard have been unfailingly warm, welcoming and accepting. They are in no way transphobic or judgemental. Hearts in eyes for Alexander and Ben, "It's all kicking off!"

Oh dear, all the students that will now have to boycott Pointless.

That made me laugh

In other news I've been barred from twitter again, apparently saying men commit more violent crime than women is hate speech.

Good to see Zuby has signed. I just hope people appreciate the sacrifice he could be making - this could mean his weightlifting records are taken away from him.

Some people I really rate have signed this. I'm so happy!

He possibly used women’s clothing in a failed abduction and it’s alluded to as an MO to deceive witnesses, and kept souvenirs of his victims. There is no “fetish for women’s clothing”.

To be fair, besides the disguise incident, the book also mentions that the serial killer character had a history of stealing women's underwear. This is a common feature of the histories of many real life serial killers.

Good to see.

Stephen King can go fart into a void, as far as I'm concerned. Craven twonk.

I am so pleased to see this. I am a member of a children's writing related FB group, and it's been so depressing to see discussion about JKR entirely framed towards her 'spewing hate', which is so far from the truth.

Hoping the inclusion of some of these names will give a pause for thought for some of these people who have demonised JKR so unthinkingly.

Some solid names, really pleased to see Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller there.

"Gender self-ID: An open letter to Government
Proposals to amend the Gender Recognition Act to bring in self-ID have now been formally dropped (Times, 23 Septemberr_: “Plans to let transgender people self-identify are shelved”). But self-ID is being widely implemented in practice by public and private bodies, and any questioning of such policies is increasingly framed as hateful; see for example the Liberal Democrats’ definition of transphobia, published last Saturday.
We are lawyers and legal academics. Some of us specialise in discrimination law; all of us are personally opposed to arbitrary discrimination on grounds of sex, race, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, disability, age, marital status, gender reassignment or religion or belief. We believe that all people should be treated with dignity and respect, and should be able to live their lives free from unlawful discrimination, abuse or harassment.
We also believe that sex is biological, and (in humans) immutable: we do not believe that it is possible for a human being literally to change sex. We think it self-evident that biological sex has material consequences. We think there are circumstances in which it is necessary to draw distinctions between (natal) women and trans women. (These are our personal beliefs; we say nothing about the beliefs of any organisations with which we are associated.)
We are surprised that any of this needs saying. But in the face of escalating efforts to make these unremarkable beliefs a matter for shame and secrecy — or loss of livelihood, party discipline, public or even judicial opprobrium — we wish to make it public that they are our beliefs.
Signed by:
Prof Allessandra Asteriti, Jessica Atkinson, Pippa Banham, Susan Bruce, Rebecca Bull, Thomas Chacko, Naomi Cunningham, Peter Daly, Joanne Deveney, Deborah Evans, Eileen Fingleton, Prof Rosa Freedman, Clare Gould, Caroline Gutteridge, Victoria Hewson, Francis Hoar, Rachel Horman-Brown, Karen Jackson, Amanda Jones, Donal Lawler, Belinda Lester, Audrey Ludwig, Lucy Masoud, Tessa McInnes, Emma McNulty, James Mendelsohn, John AP Moir, Barbara Muldoon, Simon Myerson QC, Anthea Nelson, Helen Nettleship, Maureen O’Hara, Adam Ohringer, Clare Page, Anya Palmer, Sarah Phillimore, Tim Pitt-Payne QC, Dr Hannah Quirk, Prof Peter Ramsay, Barbara Rich, Rachel Rowles Davis, Chris Sheridan, Angela Smith, Amy Stroud, Emma Stuart King, Elizabeth Todd, Harry Trusted, Catherine Urquhart, Nina Vallins, Merry van Woodenberg, Emily Watson, Anna Whetham, Gudrun Young, Charlotte Godber"

This is what I was thinking of twitter.com/legalfeminist/status/1310112935218380800?s=20

This is good news. Wasn't there an open letter of lawyers in support of her this week too?

Some pleasing names on that! 👏

Brilliant letter. It's horrifying, the way people are using this as a wedge issue to shut down discussion around women's rights and even biology at all - in Nehanda's interview, she said the moment it dawned on her was when she was told mentioning her uterus at all on social media (I presume she was probably joking about period cramps, which most of us have done) was transphobic - and seeing people start to defend JK Rowling as the enormously decent, kind, generous-hearted person she so clearly is is wonderful. She's been so brave and suffered such horrifying abuse from it. I love her. And, as Rose of Dawn noted, almost everyone I talk to completely agrees with her - most of whom had no idea that it was even happening, until she spoke up. Well, they do now!

Probably worth noting all that Graham Linehan has had to deal with, too. He could have kept his head down, with no costs or risks. But he hasn't, and it has cost him dear. He had a lot to lose but has kept on fighting, and he's been pretty remorselessly bullied and abused over it. I really hope he's feeling less isolated now.

I love Philip Hensher's work and have been so pleased to see him speak out on this issue time and again.

Frankie Boyle and Owen Jones aren't on that list are they. Of course they're not, it's for authors and entertainers 🤣🤣🤣

I never see a rep of stonewall on the tv or radio. Has a anyone, ever, been able to publicly question them?

Troubled Blood now had 5 complete stars in its rating. Remember last week, when it started off with one stars from people who hadn't even read the book? They've been legitimately out-ranked.
And I just bought the Kindle version, and intend reading the entire series, even though it's not a genre I normally read. So there.

Why were these people not defending her on twitter

Not sure if all of those people would be twitterers?
I'm not going to fault find the people who've signed this very public letter now - I'm going to hope more heads start to appear above the parapet.