A Harry Potter star has said that she would be happy to mediate between JK Rowling and Emma Watson.
This week, Rowling has come out and said that Watson and fellow Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe can ‘save their apologies’ after showing their support for the trans community.
Over the past few years, the Harry Potter author has made multiple comments that have led to her being accused of transphobia.
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Back in 2020, she responded to an article named 'Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate', saying: "People who menstruate’. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
She also said she'd 'happily' go to jail for her controversial views on trans people.
Both Watson and Radcliffe, however, have shown strong support for the transgender community.
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The Little Women star told her transgender followers that she and 'so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are'.
While Radcliffe apologised for the 'pain' Rowling’s comments have caused to the community, as well as penning a letter for LGBTQ+ organisation the Trevor Project.
And this week, the author revealed that she wasn't interested in letting bygones be bygones.
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After the publishing of the ‘Cass Report’ into children’s gender care, Rowling called the report by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass 'the most robust review of the medical evidence for transitioning children that's ever been conducted'.
The author claimed the report showed 'kids have been irreversibly harmed', adding: "Thousands are complicit, not just medics, but the celebrity mouthpieces, unquestioning media and cynical corporations."
In response to her claim, one X user said to Rowling: "Just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology ... safe in the knowledge that you will forgive them ..."
She then responded to say the two actors were not 'safe' in that knowledge.
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"Not safe, I'm afraid," she wrote. "Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women's hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces."
But if she ever decided to have a discussion, Miriam Margoyles, who played Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter movies, previously said in an interview with The Independent in 2022 that she would be ‘happy to mediate between JK Rowling and Watson’.
When asked about it, she said: “I would if anybody asked me”.
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Margoyles had previously came out in support of Rowling two years ago, saying: “There is a spectrum and people can be anywhere along that. There isn’t one answer to all these trans questions.
“But I think the vituperation that JK Rowling has received is misplaced. I don’t know her at all. I admire her as a human being. She’s a generous woman, she’s a brilliant writer.”
Margolyes added that if people were kinder to others, then ‘a lot of the misery would disappear’.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday
4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.
Topics: JK Rowling, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Transgender, Harry Potter, LGBTQ, Film and TV
Michael Slavin