JK Rowling has once again stirred controversy with her remarks on transgender issues. The Harry Potter author, in her latest post on X, claimed that transgender children “do not exist” and dismissed the concept of being “born in the wrong body.”

The controversy began on Sunday when an X user criticised Rowling for allegedly not using her influence for positive change. The user wrote, “I wish you would use your immense power for good. Your hateful focus on trans kids is hurtful and unnecessary.”

In response, JK Rowling wrote, “There are no trans kids. No child is ‘born in the wrong body’. There are only adults like you, prepared to sacrifice the health of minors to bolster your belief in an ideology that ends up wrecking more harm than lobotomies and false memory syndrome combined.”

There are no trans kids. No child is ‘born in the wrong body’. There are only adults like you, prepared to sacrifice the health of minors to bolster your belief in an ideology that will end up wreaking more harm than lobotomies and false memory syndrome combined. pic.twitter.com/yyc4MxgfOk

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 28, 2024

Her remarks met with immediate backlash, with critics accusing her of perpetuating harmful rhetoric against transgender individuals.

A user commented, “Isn’t that the same logic homophobic people used in the previous century against gays and lesbians?”

Isn’t that the same logic homophobic people used in the previous century against gays and lesbians? Jeez JK

— MR•BOMBASTIC (@mrbombastic2401) December 29, 2024

Another said, “You’re also a medical expert. Didn’t know that. This thing that everyone famous for anything feels the urge to act as an expert of something else… makes me crazy! I surely need to be visited by a novelist…” to which Rowling replied, “But being trans isn’t a medical condition, or so we’re told.”

But being trans isn’t a medical condition, or so we’re told.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 29, 2024

“Whatever you believe doesn’t matter. If a person feels and identifies as a different gender, who are you to judge? Let people be who they want to be. It doesn’t affect your life in any way shape of form. They’re not forcing their beliefs on your lifestyle. Stay in your own lane,” read a comment.

Whatever you believe doesn’t matter. If a person feels and identifies as a different gender, who are you to judge? Let people be who they want to be. It doesn’t affect your life in any way shape of form. They’re not forcing their beliefs on your lifestyle. Stay in your own lane.

— alexis bader (@alexis_bader) December 29, 2024

Rowling’s remarks also found support from some quarters. One user wrote, “You don’t need to be a medical expert to know right from wrong or child exploitation when you see it.”

You don’t need to be a medical expert to know right from wrong or child exploitation when you see it.

— EnoughsEnough (@EEnuph) December 30, 2024

This is not the first time JK Rowling has come under fire for her opinions on transgender issues. Back in August, she criticised Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s participation in the Paris Olympics 2024, suggesting that Khelif, who defeated Italian boxer Angela Carini in a 46-second match, was a man competing against women. Rowling accused organisers of enabling “men’s power over women,” and criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for allowing Khelif to compete.

London:

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday came out in support of ‘Harry Potter’ author JK Rowling over her stance against a new hate crime law enforced by the devolved government of Scotland, which she says restricts free speech.

The British Indian leader made a statement about the new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which came in force on Monday and led JK Rowling to issue a sharp rebuke on social media warning against the “dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces”.

The law creates a new crime of “stirring up hatred” relating to protected characteristics.

“People should not be criminalised for stating simple facts on biology. We believe in free speech in this country, and Conservatives will always protect it,” Rishi Sunak said in a statement.

In a series of social media posts on Monday, JK Rowling – a vocal defender of women’s only spaces when being balanced with the rights of transexuals – referenced several transgender women as men, including convicted prisoners, trans activists and other public figures. The award-winning Scottish author, who lives in Edinburgh, then invited police to arrest her if they believed she had committed an offence under the new law.

“I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment,” writes JK Rowling on X, formerly Twitter.

JK Rowling, 58, said the members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) who voted for the new hate crime laws had “placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls”.

Humza Yousaf, the Pakistani-origin First Minister of Scotland who was justice minister in the Scottish National Party (SNP) led government when the bill was passed in the Scottish Parliament Holyrood in 2021, was targeted with Islamophobic graffiti near his home in Dundee in the wake of the new law being enforced. However, he insisted it was a reminder of why such a law is needed to ensure a “zero-tolerance approach to hatred”.

Police Scotland is investigating the graffiti and said “inquiries are ongoing”.

Meanwhile, hundreds gathered outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh to protest against the new hate crime law for its restrictions on freedom of speech. They waved placards reading: “Truth is not hate speech” and “Protect free speech”.

The new laws were developed following an Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation, which concluded that new specific offences relating to stirring up hatred were needed.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)