Daniel Radcliffe ‘Wouldn’t Have Been Able to Look’ at Himself If He Hadn’t Spoken Out Against J.K. Rowling’s Comments on the Trans Community
She who shall be named. Daniel Radcliffe opened up about Harry Potter author J.K Rowling’s anti-trans comments — and why he felt it was imperative to speak out against them.“The reason I was felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that,” Radcliffe, 33, said during an interview with IndieWire that was published on Tuesday, November 1.The England native explained that seeing how “hurt” the trans community was by the 57-year-old author’s remarks made him realize how “important” it was for them to understand “not everybody in the franchise felt that way.”The backlash against Rowling first began in June 2020 after she posted a series of comments via Twitter that argued gender identity negates biological sex.“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,” the author wrote at the time. “If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased.
I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.”Rowling has since doubled down on her stance in the years following her initial statement.Radcliffe, who has worked closely with The Trevor Project — a nonprofit organization that focuses on suicide prevention in the LGBTQIA+ community — published his own letter in opposition to Rowling’s comments.“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe said in his 2020 rebuttal. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject
