Can't believe I'm writing this, but disappointed in JK today

[RobynMiller]

I know she is just one person but her tweets today are really undermining the whole GC argument.

Link: https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/2046948644373274709

'Nothing's changed. I was being honest about how I feel about an individual trans woman I know, who was a gay man pre-transition, and who I met for the first time post-transition. Objectively speaking, she has physical characteristics that make it fairly obvious she wasn't born female, but she's a gentle, funny person I've never referred to as anything other than 'she' and 'her'. I find it perfectly easy to reconcile my fond feelings towards her, and my experience of her as someone with very female-coded energy, with a belief that she hasn't literally changed sex (and incidentally, she doesn't believe she's literally changed sex, either).'

Basically, someone asked her about the trans identified male she mentioned in her 2020 essay and this was her response.

Does she not realise there can be NO EXCEPTIONS? Give an inch they'll take a mile and all that. It doesn't matter that he is gentle and funny or that he has very female-coded energy whatever the hell that means.

This does make it seem like when she calls TIMs out she is now doing it maliciously as she is perfectly happy to play pretend if she likes them enough.

Just so frustrating as it basically says that 'we could all play along with TRAs just fine and are choosing not to because we're such meanies 😡'

I disagree.

There’s a huge difference between individuals and policy.

Is the transwoman referred to a TRA though or just a normal tw not any form of 'rights activist'?

I think it’s important to remember that an individual trans person is not always a TRA. I don’t think it should be difficult to disagree with someone’s choices while also being respectful and decent.

@PrizedPickledPopcorn There really isn't. Calling a man she and treating her like one of the girls and then turning around supporting their mental illness but then turning around and say you were just playing along is hypocritical and exactly what got us into this mess.

So many people thought just playing along with individuals was fine and were then surprised when TRAs demanded they put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.

We have friends and family we want to co exist with. I have friends and family with politics I don’t share, beliefs I don’t share, priorities I don’t share.
I don’t police their choices.
I can only police my own choices.

As it happens, I think the man she’s talking about doesn’t use women’s toilets or facilities.

Definitely not a TRA.

Any man who insists people lie and call him she is a TRA

I cannot see the whole discussion, but i think her point is that individual humans who “transition” are not the problem. Especially when they know what sex they are. It is the TRA’s who are the problem. She defends women's rights to our own spaces and puts her hand in her pocket, and challenges the most obnoxious TRA’s without fear.

So do you also refer to all trans people by their 'preferred pronouns' to be kind and respectful?

I really don't think we all have to agree on everything.

I admire what JK has done and is doing in this sphere.

Will I have differences of opinion with her view - of course - show me any two people who agree on everything.

I think it's a good thing to have a wide bandwidth of viewpoints on this if they are generally pulling in the same direction.

If we insist on purity of thought then I think we will fail to achieve the general aims of retaining womens' spaces.

I think you’re completely wrong, op. You’re arguing for compelled speech.

I will use pronouns based on what I see unless I’m asked to use something else and then I will make an attempt to get it right for them

One of the things that JK Rowling is great at is nuance.

It is really incredibly important that female only spaces are protected. We don't have to hunt every individual trans woman with a pitchfork if they're respecting our boundaries and not trying to elbow in on places where it impacts us in a way that's beyond just irritation for the staunchest of those in the GC movement.

How do you know he insists? I don’t think he does. He certainly didn’t used to.

Not everyone does. Some people are quietly doing what they feel they need to. Not compelling anyone, campaigning, not in women’s spaces, just quietly trying to get by.

Obviously there are many, many TRAs, narcissistic, abusive and LOUD. They frame the debate with their aggression and invasiveness.

I'm with you OP. The only way forward is with honesty all round.

I didn’t love the “female-coded energy” as it plays into the hands of those who’d claim that being female is some sort of mystical feeling as opposed to pure biology.

But I respect her for standing up for her friends, and I couldn’t give a shit what pronouns one friend uses for another - as long as I’m not compelled to use them.

And as a PP pointed out, there’s a world of difference between policy and personal relationships.

No sorry I think you’ve misunderstood, or maybe this is a goady reverse? She has always been fine with trans people doing what they want to do, because the definition of a trans person is someone living as the opposite gender they were born in, right? All of us grew up accepting people wanted to present differently, like Eddie Izzard back when he was funny/cool and Dame Edna etc - we’re all different and some people feel better like that. where it crossed over to forcing everyone to believe that they have changed sex is where the line was drawn, because a) it’s not possible to change the sex genes of every cell in your body, obviously, and b) some people abused that by insisting that they should be allowed privileges that are deliberately reserved for sections of society who might really suffer from being forced to share those privileges with the opposite sex. And those people were and still are in some cases very visibly violent in their language, which made everyone scared to speak up. Maybe you should listen to The Witch Trials of JK Rowling, which is an investigative podcast which explains what she said better than I am doing. No-one needs to hate trans people to be GC, they are two different things

I'm arguing against blatant hypocrisy. If you acknowledge the reality of sex and that these language games are the exact thing that have eroded our rights but AT THE SAME TIME are more than happy to play along with you one trans friend who has 'very female-coded energy', which is bollocks TRA speak, then you are a hypocrite. And cherry picking like that is damaging to any movement.

Nope. It's not arguing for compelled speech. It's arguing for telling the truth.

Yeah but that's just your opinion not the general consensus, you sound a bit loopy if you ask me.

Thank you!

Sigh. Yes, the ‘she’ and ‘her’ stick in the craw a bit but let’s not forget that JKR is still a legend and has done so much for women.

I just wish gay men would live free and proud as gay men without this insulting encroachment.

I don’t know why she’s pandering to it but her war record far outstrips my corporate cowardice so I’m in no place to criticise her.

It's a well worn GC tenet.

For those who need reminding:
Pronouns are Rohypnol

I am cool with that. It’s a respect thing. You respect your not actually female and don’t overstep boundaries and I am happy to call someone she on an individual basis.

She is a woman, an individual, with friends.
She has done great work standing up against bullies and funding to protect women and help them get justice.

The fact that she has a trans identified friend, who she thinks of with female pronouns, doesn’t undermine that. If she was supporting her friend into women’s spaces, saying ‘no trans allowed, except my friend’, then I’d agree. But that isn’t what she’s doing.