While Daniel Radcliffe may have played Harry Potter in the movie adaptations of J.K. Rowling‘s uber-popular book series, he is not holding back when it comes to responding to some of her recent tweets. Last week, Rowling received some backlash after she commented on a headline about “people who menstruate.”
In response to the headline, the author wrote, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
And people quickly slammed the author, calling the remark transphobic.
According to CNN, this isn’t the first time Rowling has been accused of transphobia. Now, Radcliffe is putting his two-cents out there as well. In an open letter shared on The Trevor Projects blog, Radcliffe condemned Rowling’s closeminded statement. His letter began:
“I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself, but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now. While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment.”
“Transgender women are women,” he continued.
“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 matter than either Jo or I,” Radcliffe wrote.
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Radcliffe went on to point out that 78-percent of the transgender community has faced discrimination, which the actor says makes it very clear that “we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.”
“I am still learning how to be a better ally.”
Radcliffe went on to encourage others to continue learning as well. He then addressed the Harry Potter fans specifically hurt by Rowlings commented. “If you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion, nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.”
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