J.K Rowling's Position

[middler]

I am not a regular on these boards but I am aware of the controversy over J K Rowling's position as I have encountered so many young people who have become very hostile with me if I do not show that I do not go along with them in their views that she is the equivalent of a racist in her attitude towards racists. I try and stay neutral and not declare my views but that is not enough for them. They want tos ee you express the same vitriol that they have so they can be assured you are on the same side. I find it so anti democratic frankly.

Privately I was relieved with the British ruling that means trans women who may well still have a penis and all the bad actors who could then take full advantage of a law that allowed transwomen into women only spaces, are not allowed to access those women spaces. I appreciate that most transwomen just want to go about leading their daily lives identifying as women and using women spaces is part of that and they have no ill intent. But many do not have bottom surgery and so yes they still have a penis as do the men who can just wake up one day and say they identify as a woman and start using those women only spaces and not have good intent? What am I missing? Why don't the younger generation see this and get that it is a huge risk to women? Do they think that there will be no bad actors? I just do not get it. The law is not to punish transwomen. It's to protect women.

I am not without sympathy for transwomen who genuinely feel uncomfortable going into male spaces. I appreciate that they identify as female but I just feel it's a conflict of rights and that you cannot sacrifice the right of women to feel safe in a women only space so that the smaller % of transwomen do not feel uncomfortable. Safety trumps comfort.

I personally would not react to a transwoman being in a female toilet but then I am aware how do I know it is a genuine transwoman and not a bad actor so I appreciate other women not being comfortable.
Maybe we need additional gender neutral toilets in this day and age.

But when this topic comes up with many younger people I can tell that the fact that I do not join in with the hatred for JK Rowling, that it puts me in the pro JK Rowling camp and I do agree with her support of ensuring that law got passed.

I am not so sure about the comments she made about kids not being trans as I think some kids as teens do seem to think they are in the wrong gender, maybe not in the large numbers that we are seeing today but clearly some people do feel they were born in the wrong gender and as a society I think we do have to support them without sacrificing the rights of an other group.

Rowling has never expressed hate for transpeople as far as I am aware. I do think she can be provocative in how she expressed her views and that is her choice but I just do not understand how the younger generation claim she is the equivalent of a racist but with trans rights? The language they use about her is so strong and I really try to avoid conversations about her because it has become so divisive- it is hard to find a millennial who does not agree with Emma Watson's viewpoint.

I am not 100% up to date with all Rowling has said but what has she said that is so bad that the younger generation have such deep hatred for her? I am just trying to understand it better and be ready to respond to the vitriol I get from younger colleagues when it comes up as it does seem to.

I'm not sure there is any point taking them on. You won't change their mind.

However the penny may drop eventually.

I have no problem with what J K Rowling has to say. And even if I did her right to say it unmolested is sacrosanct.

The trans issue has hit our family with a highly vulnerable young member who has been sucked into thinking that this is the way to deal with inevitable pubertal angst and is heading towards irreversible actions that will taint the whole of their life.

I am saddened by this. I am watching a tragedy unfold.

In the main these changes are being made by young, vulnerable and inexperienced people. We need to protect them and also women in general.

By all means let a person who has some experience of life and understands what they are doing make a transition. But these children and young people are being ill-served.

When I've had these conversations, I've asked (with fake wide-eyed innocence) for examples of what she's said that's so hateful. So far, nobody has come up with any.

That's not to say that I agree with absolutely everything she's said or done. She's not a saint. But I can't see that the online vitriol against her is justified - not least because it began when she had only made a handful of pretty anodyne tweets. She didn't start it: they did.

To be fair, her work for the GC cause goes way beyond social media spats, so arguably there is a solid reason for hardcore trans activists to hate her (and for women to thank her). She founded a single-sex women's refuge, and she puts her own money into carefully chosen court cases, notably the For Women Scotland case that led to this year's Supreme Court ruling.

I'm not sure what you're looking for here but all "trans women" are men. Penis or no penis. And "living as a woman" is just nonsense. If you want to understand the problem some people have with JK then ask them. If they can't give you rational coherent arguments and refuse to engage in meaningful debate then that tells you all need to know.

I have a feeling this is going to descend into a "but what about the genuine trans women" thread and once again women will have to continue to make the arguments as to why we do not want biological men however they present or identify, and regardless of what pieces of paper they have in our single sex spaces or treated as women in society.

My personal opinion is that any man attempting to enter a space or category designated for women and girls is a predator.

If you plan to continue with the "poor genuine trans woman" nonsense you'd be better taking that elsewhere.

Something similar happened in my family. The girl in question socially transitioned, took testosterone for a while. Thankfully didn't have surgery.

She has since detransitioned, come off the T, but she has long terms health issues as a result of taking it and her mental health is not good.

Its so tragic to see what this ideology can do to young people.

If you plan to continue with the "poor genuine transwoman" nonsense you'd be better taking that elsewhere.

Yes indeed.

Acknowledged. I just think it's safer not to mention penises at all. You're in danger of backing yourself into a corner.

I do accept that those people choose to live out their lives identifying as a different gender and I don't oppose that. Biological sex is fixed isn't it but I accept that people can express themselves in a different gender to the one they were born in and I understand that while they are a minority of people those people exist and have a right to do that. You can live your life as a woman I just don't think you can expect the law to recognise you as a woman for simply self identifying as a woman so I was in agreement when that law passed.

I know there will be people on this board who oppose my view that people can change gender and I respect that you hold a different view and have reasons why you hold that view. My experience of meeting transpeople is that they could not bare to live their lives in the opposite sex and thus identfying as a different gender was the only way they felt they could live their lives. Certainly women(biological women) deserve to have their rights protected so I was in agreement with the law that passed.

Oh god, some of my friends are like this. I asked one the other day what JKR and Glinner had actually said that made them think they are disgustingly transphobic and didn’t get an answer. Totally captured.

But what does living your life as a woman mean?

Here it comes. Poor genuine trans woman, just want to live their lives.

Extra points if you don't use the phrases makeup, long hair and dresses.

Let's get this out the way.

Feminine clothing
Make up
Female gender identity
Extreme mental distress
Authentic self
Living as a woman
Poses no risk to women

And if we're really lucky we'll get a "CIS" soon enough

Yes when I asked I was told go and read what she writes- I mean if it is so memorable just tell me what she said right?
I am so sick of it, it's like a big playground cliche all parroting what the ring leader says. Unthinking, unnuanced and SNL skit on JK Rowling, is nothing compared to the cut glass precision of Rowling's response to Emma Watson, who to fair is just dancing after the Pied Piper herself in an unwitting self serving manner. And I like Watson, I am sure she is a perfectly pleasant obliging young woman but the lack of loyalty, the throwing of Rowling under the bus to get in with the cool kids.
Rowling's steely resolve in the face of Watson's pitying wave from the departing bus. It's just so rare today you cannot help but admire her.

And of course her other work for women and children -

'In Scotland, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is more prevalent in women than men, with a national female-to-male ratio of 2.3:1. Scotland also has one of the highest rates of MS diagnoses in the world'

clinical-brain-sciences.ed.ac.uk/news-archive-2014-2021/news-jul-dec-2019/jk-rowling-donates-further-ps15m-multiple-sclerosis

Helped to fund a rescue mission to get women lawyers out of Afghanistan -

www.sundaypost.com/fp/harry-potter-author-jk-rowling-helped-afghan-lawyers-flee-the-taliban/

Lumos - 'We shed light on the root causes of family separation – poverty, conflict and discrimination. We press and support governments to reform care systems and show how children can be safely united with families.'

Volent - 'Helping to alleviate social deprivation primarily across Scotland, particularly supporting women, children and young people at risk.'

House!

I know what you're doing.

Yes, scraping for reddit. It's so last year, or the year before, or the one before that. Disingenuous bullshit.

If the OP starts with the intersex, sex is a spectrum shite my head may explode.

It's very much 2/10 for effort.

It's so obvious. Much like "trans women" being men.

You're being generous with that!

Look I am not anti-transpeople. I understand that people are different. I am not trans but I have met trans people and as a human being I try and be empathetic to people who face things I have not faced and I think it must be a pretty major thing to feel like you have been born in the wrong body or gender or however they choose to describe it.

But I am not ok with the law allowing transwomen and anyone who just decides they identify as a woman going into separate womens' space which are separate to ensure women are safer.

So I guess my position is different to yours Alucard55 and it's ok. I am ok with people holding different viewpoints to me. I just dislike it when either side starts belittling or being rude to the other side because that's just not very positive is it- shuts things down rather than leads to any progress in the conversation I would suggest.

There’s no such thing as a genuine trans woman.
Regardless of how well they think they pass, how well they behave etc. They are all men. The only people that can become women are girls!

I read this weekend that JkR chastised Emma Watson for her lack of life experiences. She was in Harry Potter at a very early age, I believe is from a wealthy background and never had to struggle to put food on the table. JK on the other hand had a hard start to adult life, her mom had M.S (JK has donated millions to the research charity), she has been the recipient of domestic and sexual abuse.

The young Potter brigade are living in LaLa land and are blinkered along with all the other luvvies. A man can never biologically be a woman, I would not feel safe if trans women used female facilities. As someone else has pointed out only a small minority have their penis removed to make a vagina 🤷‍♀️