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opinions // no. 17

¢ JK Rowling Twitter posts manifest hate
speech in Vancouver

¢ The Bookstore shakedown
 Censoring the experience
..and more

JK Rowling Twitter posts manifest
hate speech 1n Vancouver

» The unravelling how all of this came to be

CJ Sommerfeld
Staff Writer

 

aried opinions followed a Vancouver
billboard displaying the text Iv JK
Rowling earlier this month. This sign
follows a fury of what some may see as
transphobic Twitter posts, essay, and
new novel—the basis of which Rowling
claims all of this had started from. While
some view her claims as hate speech,
others argue that she is exhibiting
freedom of speech. Regardless of where
her interest in trans rights rooted from,
some organizations
considered “anti-trans”
have grasped onto what
Rowling has shared and
used her as a face to
perpetuate their beliefs
against trans identities.
I will begin by
defining some terms.
To remove subjectivity
as much as possible,
the quoted sections are
taken from Merriam-
Webster (granted,
ina lengthy usage
section Merriam-
Webster states “Usage
of sex and gender is
by no means settled”).
Sex is “either of the
two major forms of
individuals that occur
in many species and
that are distinguished
respectively as female
or male especially
on the basis of their
reproductive organs
and structures.”
Gender, something
many believe to be
a social construct,
is mentioned ina
section of the usage
guide “[...] and a few
decades later gender gained a meaning
referring to the behavioral, cultural, or
psychological traits typically associated
with one sex, as in ‘gender roles.” These
roles can vary between cultures and are
often based on societal expectations. One’s
sex and gender do not always align; gender
identity is “a person’s internal sense of
being male, female, some combination
of male and female, or neither male nor
female.” This internal sense often manifests
to an individual’s gender expression, which
refers to “the physical and behavioral
manifestations of one’s gender identity.”
Transphobia is defined as: “irrational fear
of, aversion to, or discrimination against
transgender people.” Lastly, hate speech is
defined as “speech expressing hatred of a
particular group of people.”
Now, where did Rowling’s interest in
trans activism begin? In an essay, Rowling

describes how researching content for her
new book Troubled Blood—a crime fiction
which received crummy reviews—was

part of what had initiated her research on
gender identity matters. However, in liking
what some consider anti-trans Twitter
posts and subsequently posting similar
items on her Twitter feed, her research
soon snowballed into what I think is a large
transphobic mess. Pro-trans persons took a
stance against her, whereas people who are
considered anti-trans saluted her, clutching
onto her image as anti-trans propaganda.
She also mentions a large number of

[

ROWLING

“positive, grateful, and supportive” emails
and letters from those “worried about the
dangers to young people, gay people and
about the erosion of women’s and girl’s
rights [...] about a climate of fear that serves
nobody—least of all trans youth—well.”
In the same essay mentioned above,
she states: “I’m concerned about the huge
explosion in young women wishing to
transition and also about the increasing
numbers who seem to be detransitioning
(returning to their original sex), because
they regret taking steps that have, in some
cases, altered their bodies irrevocably,
and taken away their fertility.” She stated
that “I’m an ex-teacher and the founder
of a children’s charity, which gives
me an interest in both education and
safeguarding. Like many others, I have
deep concerns about the effect the trans
rights movement is having on both [...]”

She feels as though she needs to protect cis
women and children from transgendered
persons: “I do not want to make natal girls
and women less safe. When you throw
open the doors of bathrooms and changing
rooms to any man who believes or feels
he’s a woman—and, as I've said, gender
confirmation certificates may now be
granted without any need for surgery or
hormone—then you open the door to any
and all men who wish to come inside,” but
also wrote, “I believe the majority of trans-
identified people not only pose zero threat
to others, but are vulnerable for all the

JK

 

reasons I’ve outlined. Trans people need
and deserve protection.”

In this essay, she attests the rise in
persons identifying as a gender that differs
from their biological sex to be a current
trend. She quotes American physician
and researcher, Lisa Littman, who was
touching on fluidity: “Parents online
were describing a very unusual pattern
of transgender-identification where
multiple friends and even entire friend
groups became transgender-identified at
the same time. I would have been remiss
had I not considered social contagion
and peer influences as potential factors.”
Her accompanied Twitter posts are where
freedom of speech—something Rowling
continuously advocates for—has contorted
into what many activists consider
transphobia.

She has used her Twitter account as

a platform to proliferate what I believe

are transphobic views to the public by
repeatedly sharing the perspective that
transwomen are not real women. She has
stated menstruation is only something

a woman can do, which many trans
activists disagree with. Perhaps this is an
easier claim to make as a cis person—an
individual whose sex adheres to their
gender. She attempts at strengthening
these ideas by sharing what I think are
unscholarly articles (such as this one)
which state the health risks of cross-sex
hormones and sex reassignment surgery
and re-Tweeting
others’ opinions who
align with hers. After
receiving backlash, she
defends her views by
saying that she lives in
a liberal society and is
therefore free to voice
her views. It was only
after a sporadic fury of
Twitter posts that she
organized her ideas

in writing the essay
mentioned above. |
believe these shared
transphobic views
have manifested into
tangible propaganda
such as the Vancouver I
¥ JK Rowling.

Preceding the
Hastings and Glen
Drive Patterson
billboard, a similar
sign was erected in
Edinburgh, Scotland.
The sign was taken
down a day later,
due to its perceived
discriminatory nature.
One CBC article noted
that the Vancouver
residing duo who
were responsible for
commissioning the
Patterson billboard was inspired to do
so by the above mentioned Scottish one.
Identical to the Edinburgh sign, I think
it was public applause towards Rowling’s
stance on young people going through or
considering gender transition. The sign was
paint-splattered the day after it was posted,
and similarly covered up a day later by the
city.

The unravelling by-products of
Rowling’s first Tweets have resulted in
what I consider echoed hate towards trans
persons throughout multiple continents.

I do not believe that Rowling initially
intended for her transgender research and
subsequent comments to have grasped the
attention of all those it had and to have
caused the repercussions it did. Yet here we
are months later with individuals clinging
to Rowling’s words and using her words to
symbolize anti-trans activism.

Illustration by Athena Little