JK Rowling's name dropped from British school building over author's "opinions on trans people"
euronews.comHarry Potter author JK Rowling due to her "opinions on trans people".The change took place following requests from a number of students and staff members in light of a growing number of disputes against Rowling for her “recent words about the trans community”.The Boswells School in Chelmsford, England, has changed the name of her building to Holmes – now recognising British olympian Dame Kelly Holmes.Principal Stephen Mansell explained that his school for 11-18 year-olds wanted to create "a vibrant, inclusive and democratic school community, where we encourage students to become independent and confident citizens.""In the autumn of 2021, we revised and renamed one of the school buildings following numerous requests from students and staff, as well as a vote from the whole school," he continued.A school newsletter from July said its six buildings were named after "British citizens who excelled".Other house names paying respect to Sir David Attenborough, Stephen Hawking, Charlotte Bronte, John Travers Cornwell VC, and Florence Nightingale are still in place.Rowling has already had a controversial start to 2022 following this and her absence from the HBO Harry Potter reunion special.The snub allegedly came as a result of cast members – many of whom support or are patrons of LGBTQ+ causes – expressing resistance to her being present.Instead, archive footage of the 56-year old – estimated to be worth just shy of a billion euros – was taken from a 2019 interview discussing the franchise.In 2020, JK Rowling shared an article on Twitter about "people who menstruate" commenting sarcastically: "I’m sure there used to be a word for those people.
