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.

The kind of bullying and abuse Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has been subjected to makes one thing crystal clear: in the age of social media, misinformation is easiest to amplify when it’s rooted in misogyny, transphobia and racism, and amplified by verified, blue-ticked accounts on X. It has also made it clear that trans-hate will eventually come to haunt all women who do not fit traditional, conservative definitions of femininity.

Now that Imane Khelif has refused to take the online abuse in silence and is suing the key amplifiers – J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk – let’s revisit the brutal online hate campaign unleashed against the Olympic gold medallist, all for being a ‘non-feminine’ woman of colour. 

The Prime Purveyors Of Hate

On August 1, after facing Khelif for a whopping 45-second battle, Italian boxer Angela Carini forfeited the match. Later, she would tell the press, “I have never been punched so hard” and shed tears in front of the camera, as anyone would have in her position. However, seeing a white woman cry on television was, of course, too much to bear for champions of women’s rights like author J. K. Rowling, who has had a history of making transphobic comments. Rowling cried foul on X about a “man” punching a woman and about men’s rights activism having gone too far. Even the owner of X, Elon Musk, could not resist chiming in. It’s another story that Musk’s own views about transgender persons are worth some scrutiny and may be best described by his estranged daughter who he refuses to acknowledge.

The Imane Khelif case underlines a hard but unsurprising truth: we are not as progressive in 2024 as we would like to believe. Sure, there are more people today who are accepting of queer rights, gender equality, and just human rights in general, but in the country called the internet, this population is sparse.

Trans Hate Is Misogyny

When two people with a combined following of over 200 million people put out such derogatory posts against a woman, their legions of followers are bound to spew out the same misinformation, often with vile language. But Rowling and Musk’s comments also fanned the fire of deep-rooted transphobia and misogyny that still burns in all stratas of human classes, races, and nationalities. 

Trans hate is just another catalyst for overall misogyny. Groups abound on Reddit and Facebook where people aligned with the Rowling ideology simply attack any female celebrity they don’t think is “woman enough” and must therefore, be a transsexual or transgender; there is a word for this group too, “transvestigators”.  For example, if you like to lift weights and be muscular, then you are not feminine, and hence make for a perfect target for these ‘tranvestigators’. Like sports? Big cars? Not dainty, petite, blonde, and light-eyed enough? Wear too much makeup as if to hide male appearance? Wear too little makeup because you are a man trying to pass off as a ‘sporty woman’? Well, women who exhibit such traits “aren’t women”, according to tranvestigators. 

Coming back to the hate campaign against Khelif. Soon after her win in Paris and its fallout, conservative-leaning media outlets and social media handles started talking about her 2023 disqualification by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for failing a ‘gender eligibility test’. No matter the fact that the IBA itself was questioned by the Olympics for their ‘methods’ and that there have been accusations of corruption as well. The International Olympic Association (IOC) banned the IBA last year over its governance and finance issues, with the Olympic body allowing the boxing competition to be held in Paris. But alas, this grain of truth was buried deep under the rubble of misinformation that flooded the internet. 

A number of questions have been raised amid this storm. “How can ‘he’ be a woman?”, “IBA must have banned ‘him’ for a reason!”, “XY is a man! Only men have Testosterone!”, “He clearly looks like a man. He is built like a man.” 

Let’s try to answer them. 

Man, Woman, Other?

Khelif’s story is very Dangal-like. Indian audiences, if they read her full interview with UNICEF, may relate to the story of a young girl joining a sport that’s dominated by men. But unlike Dangal, she did not have a father ready to fight the world. She fought mostly alone in her childhood, while her family battled poverty to feed their children and sustain the family.

There’s also the fact that Algeria is a deeply religious Islamic country, where being trans may invite a host of legal challenges. If any of the ‘tranvestigators’ like Rowling or Musk followers had bothered to do a simple Google search, they would know Algeria would probably never send a ‘trans’ person to represent their country in the Olympics.  

XX or XY?

Doesn’t matter, honestly. Anyone who has studied genetics and chromosomes can answer this: the set of chromosomes that define sex (not gender) are named so based on their shape. Zoya Fatima, a teacher at Jamia Senior Secondary School, explains that women have two chromosomes shaped like ‘X’, while in men, one of them is shaped like a ‘Y’. “Genetic mutation can cause a foetus with XX to have a Y-shaped chromosome,” she explains, “They can have all female genitalia, even uterus in some cases, but ovaries in almost all cases are non-functional. But they can be mothers via IVF and have normal pregnancies. So it is incorrect to say that all XY automatically classify as male and man.”

If we were to go by the definitions recommended by conservative social media, then millions of women would immediately lose their right to be called a woman for having elevated testosterone levels. While testosterone is considered the ‘male hormone’, women produce it too – many with hormonal disorders, such as PCOS, tend to produce too much of it. Will these conditions void a woman’s right to be called a ‘woman’? 

If we consider science for our definitions, the majority of women with XY or XXY or XXYY chromosomal structures have one common denominator: a non-functional ovary. So that begs the question, is a perfectly functional ovary fundamental for being classified as a ‘woman’? If yes, what about a few thousand women who have ovarian insufficiency? Will they cease to be known as women? 

The Question Of Race

Women of colour who don’t fit conservative definitions of femininity have always had it worse. Barely a day before her match, Khelif’s Hungarian opponent, Luca Hamori, posted an incendiary picture on Instagram that showed Khelif as a ‘beast’. For centuries now, Black women have been mocked for their ‘masculinity’. Not too far in India itself, sprinter Duttee Chand had been on the receiving end of primitive gender tests. “In 2014, I challenged the IOC’s rule that a person with a higher testosterone level should not participate in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. It was noted that hormonal levels cannot increase athletic performance. I suffered a lot at that time. I faced a lot of controversy regarding my gender,” Chand told PTI after the Imane Khelif controversy erupted.

The abuse and attacks Imane Khelif has faced online will be remembered for years to come. The key takeaway is this: misinformation driven by racist, misogynist ideologies often travels much, much faster than the truth. 

(Anwiti Singh is Assistant Producer, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

The kind of bullying and abuse Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has been subjected to makes one thing crystal clear: in the age of social media, misinformation is easiest to amplify when it’s rooted in misogyny, transphobia and racism, and amplified by verified, blue-ticked accounts on X. It has also made it clear that trans-hate will eventually come to haunt all women who do not fit traditional, conservative definitions of femininity.

Now that Imane Khelif has refused to take the online abuse in silence and is suing the key amplifiers – J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk – let’s revisit the brutal online hate campaign unleashed against the Olympic gold medallist, all for being a ‘non-feminine’ woman of colour. 

The Prime Purveyors Of Hate

On August 1, after facing Khelif for a whopping 45-second battle, Italian boxer Angela Carini forfeited the match. Later, she would tell the press, “I have never been punched so hard” and shed tears in front of the camera, as anyone would have in her position. However, seeing a white woman cry on television was, of course, too much to bear for champions of women’s rights like author J. K. Rowling, who has had a history of making transphobic comments. Rowling cried foul on X about a “man” punching a woman and about men’s rights activism having gone too far. Even the owner of X, Elon Musk, could not resist chiming in. It’s another story that Musk’s own views about transgender persons are worth some scrutiny and may be best described by his estranged daughter who he refuses to acknowledge.

The Imane Khelif case underlines a hard but unsurprising truth: we are not as progressive in 2024 as we would like to believe. Sure, there are more people today who are accepting of queer rights, gender equality, and just human rights in general, but in the country called the internet, this population is sparse.

Trans Hate Is Misogyny

When two people with a combined following of over 200 million people put out such derogatory posts against a woman, their legions of followers are bound to spew out the same misinformation, often with vile language. But Rowling and Musk’s comments also fanned the fire of deep-rooted transphobia and misogyny that still burns in all stratas of human classes, races, and nationalities. 

Trans hate is just another catalyst for overall misogyny. Groups abound on Reddit and Facebook where people aligned with the Rowling ideology simply attack any female celebrity they don’t think is “woman enough” and must therefore, be a transsexual or transgender; there is a word for this group too, “transvestigators”.  For example, if you like to lift weights and be muscular, then you are not feminine, and hence make for a perfect target for these ‘tranvestigators’. Like sports? Big cars? Not dainty, petite, blonde, and light-eyed enough? Wear too much makeup as if to hide male appearance? Wear too little makeup because you are a man trying to pass off as a ‘sporty woman’? Well, women who exhibit such traits “aren’t women”, according to tranvestigators. 

Coming back to the hate campaign against Khelif. Soon after her win in Paris and its fallout, conservative-leaning media outlets and social media handles started talking about her 2023 disqualification by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for failing a ‘gender eligibility test’. No matter the fact that the IBA itself was questioned by the Olympics for their ‘methods’ and that there have been accusations of corruption as well. The International Olympic Association (IOC) banned the IBA last year over its governance and finance issues, with the Olympic body allowing the boxing competition to be held in Paris. But alas, this grain of truth was buried deep under the rubble of misinformation that flooded the internet. 

A number of questions have been raised amid this storm. “How can ‘he’ be a woman?”, “IBA must have banned ‘him’ for a reason!”, “XY is a man! Only men have Testosterone!”, “He clearly looks like a man. He is built like a man.” 

Let’s try to answer them. 

Man, Woman, Other?

Khelif’s story is very Dangal-like. Indian audiences, if they read her full interview with UNICEF, may relate to the story of a young girl joining a sport that’s dominated by men. But unlike Dangal, she did not have a father ready to fight the world. She fought mostly alone in her childhood, while her family battled poverty to feed their children and sustain the family.

There’s also the fact that Algeria is a deeply religious Islamic country, where being trans may invite a host of legal challenges. If any of the ‘tranvestigators’ like Rowling or Musk followers had bothered to do a simple Google search, they would know Algeria would probably never send a ‘trans’ person to represent their country in the Olympics.  

XX or XY?

Doesn’t matter, honestly. Anyone who has studied genetics and chromosomes can answer this: the set of chromosomes that define sex (not gender) are named so based on their shape. Zoya Fatima, a teacher at Jamia Senior Secondary School, explains that women have two chromosomes shaped like ‘X’, while in men, one of them is shaped like a ‘Y’. “Genetic mutation can cause a foetus with XX to have a Y-shaped chromosome,” she explains, “They can have all female genitalia, even uterus in some cases, but ovaries in almost all cases are non-functional. But they can be mothers via IVF and have normal pregnancies. So it is incorrect to say that all XY automatically classify as male and man.”

If we were to go by the definitions recommended by conservative social media, then millions of women would immediately lose their right to be called a woman for having elevated testosterone levels. While testosterone is considered the ‘male hormone’, women produce it too – many with hormonal disorders, such as PCOS, tend to produce too much of it. Will these conditions void a woman’s right to be called a ‘woman’? 

If we consider science for our definitions, the majority of women with XY or XXY or XXYY chromosomal structures have one common denominator: a non-functional ovary. So that begs the question, is a perfectly functional ovary fundamental for being classified as a ‘woman’? If yes, what about a few thousand women who have ovarian insufficiency? Will they cease to be known as women? 

The Question Of Race

Women of colour who don’t fit conservative definitions of femininity have always had it worse. Barely a day before her match, Khelif’s Hungarian opponent, Luca Hamori, posted an incendiary picture on Instagram that showed Khelif as a ‘beast’. For centuries now, Black women have been mocked for their ‘masculinity’. Not too far in India itself, sprinter Duttee Chand had been on the receiving end of primitive gender tests. “In 2014, I challenged the IOC’s rule that a person with a higher testosterone level should not participate in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. It was noted that hormonal levels cannot increase athletic performance. I suffered a lot at that time. I faced a lot of controversy regarding my gender,” Chand told PTI after the Imane Khelif controversy erupted.

The abuse and attacks Imane Khelif has faced online will be remembered for years to come. The key takeaway is this: misinformation driven by racist, misogynist ideologies often travels much, much faster than the truth. 

(Anwiti Singh is Assistant Producer, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Paris:

Forty-six seconds into her match against Algeria’s Imane Khelif, Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned the bout. She left the ring in tears, but the result also caused a huge uproar on social media, with many accusing authorities of “allowing a man”, referring to Imane, to compete in the women’s category.

British author and philanthropist JK Rowling called the sporting establishment “misogynist.”

“Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered,” read the post shared by JK Rowling on X (formerly Twitter).

Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered. #Paris2024pic.twitter.com/Q5SbKiksXQ

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024

Former professional boxer Barry McGuigan also took a dig at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for its alleged insensitivity towards women. “Shocking dangerous and profoundly unfair on Women & Girls. IOC hang you head in shame,” McGuigan wrote.

Shocking dangerous and profoundly unfair on Women & Girls. IOC hang you head in shame ???? https://t.co/j8KxNEXlCm

— Barry McGuigan (@ClonesCyclone) August 1, 2024

Elon Musk shared former American competitive swimmer Riley Gaines’ post that claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports.” Musk reacted to the post by writing, “Absolutely.”

Absolutely https://t.co/twccUEOW9e

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 1, 2024

However, there were many who defended Imane and said she was born woman and had not undergone any gender-affirming surgery.

“Stop spreading false information to stir up hatred, if you want to write fiction do another book on wizards,” read a comment under Ms Rowling’s tweet.

Stop spreading false information to stir up hatred, if you want to write fiction do another book on wizards

— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) August 1, 2024

Another social media user pointed out that Imane Khelif was a female-born woman fighter, perfectly eligible to compete in women’s sports from a gender point of view. “She’s born a female, please do not belittle her achievement as a woman and call her a man. It’s not right. This mass misinformation needs to stop,” the post read.

Imane Khelif is a female-born woman fighter, she’s perfectly eligible to compete in women’s sports from a gender point of view

She’s born a female, please do not belittle her achievement as a woman and call her a man. It’s not right. This mass misinformation needs to stop. https://t.co/FSQOpxMQJGpic.twitter.com/Ft4kEz4Mxr

— ???????? ???????? (@Fs_FTBL) August 1, 2024

“She is a biological woman,” read another comment

She is a biological woman

— Dittie (@DittiePE) August 1, 2024

This social media user suggested people research before tweeting abuse.

The misinformation that’s spreading about Imane Khelif is so unfair. She is not trans. She is not a man. Can you guys research before you start tweeting abuse please? It’s not hard?! This is what they did to Caster Semenya.

— Lillz (@LillzTIL) August 1, 2024

Imane Khelif is an amateur boxer who clinched a silver medal at the International Boxing Association’s 2022 World Championships. Khelif is one of the two boxers permitted to fight at the Olympics despite being disqualified from the women’s world championships last year for allegedly failing gender eligibility tests.

According to the Associated Press, the International Boxing Association disqualified Imane from last year’s championships right before the Algerian’s gold-medal bout because of elevated levels of testosterone. Khelif will next feature in a quarterfinal bout against Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori on Saturday.

JK Rowling will not face an investigation over her comments about a controversial new law in Scotland aimed at cutting hate speech, including against trans people, Police Scotland said Tuesday.

The “Harry Potter” author, an opponent of the gender identity movement, criticised the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which came into force Monday, calling it an attack on free speech.

The law, she said in a lengthy online criticism, is “wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces”.

“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,” she wrote.

Police Scotland said they had received complaints about Edinburgh-based JK Rowling’s post but a spokesperson added: “The comments are not assessed to be criminal and no further action will be taken.”

The devolved Scottish parliament, which has lawmaking powers in some areas, passed the act to consolidate existing hate crime legislation and ban stirring up hatred against several groups.

Protected characteristics include age, disability, race, religion and sexual orientation, as well as gender identity.

But JK Rowling, and others who support her views, say the new law does nothing more to protect women and girls.

She has faced a torrent of online abuse, death threats and accusations of transphobia for supporting a woman who lost her job after stating that transgender people cannot change their biological sex.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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.)