While J.K. Rowling achieved legendary status through Harry Potter and its Wizarding World, her controversial views now reach beyond the franchise itself.
Here's a little rundown of everything she said against the Transgender community so far.
It Started Off with Liking and Supporting Transphobic Tweets
Rowling started the fire when she first faced allegations of transphobia in March 2018, when fans noticed her "liking" a tweet (when liked tweets were still publicized) that referred to trans women as "men in dresses."
Initially, Rowling's rep claimed on Pink News that this was an accident due to her being "clumsy" and "middle-aged."
The then-53-year-old added she "absent-mindedly" liked the tweet when she meant to screenshot it as she had taken an interest in "gender identity and transgender matters." But who knew that was just the beginning of it all?
Signs of the Harry Potter creator becoming more and more openly transphobic circulated in June 2019, when she had once again faced backlash for following YouTuber Magdalen Berns, a "self-professed transphobe", on X (formerly Twitter).
Rowling admitted she intentionally followed her and "wanted to contact her directly due to their common stand.
In the same year, Rowling defended Maya Forstater, a researcher who was waging an employment discrimination battle against the company that refused to renew her contract. The reason is that she made a series of anti-trans statements.
Rowling's defense read: "Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who'll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?"
Despite Being Called Out, Rowling Continued to Persist
The first wave of the Harry Potter cast defending the Transgender community started off in June 2020.
At the time, Rowling dismissed an article with the headline, "Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate." The author insisted that only women could ever menstruate.
Two days later, the Happy Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe took a stance online, "Transgender women are women," and proceeded to not only apologize for transpeople who grew up with the franchise but also refused any statement that erased the community's dignity.
Rowling took this to offense by publishing an essay with over 3,600 words on why she spoke out on "sex and gender issues."
Essentially, she declared that women should not "admit no material difference between trans women and themselves."
She detailed that, as a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor, this led her to defend women who had "concerns around single-sex spaces."
She argued that female bathrooms only belonged to "real women", and not to "any man who believes or feels he's a woman."
Despite her attempt to expand her stand, more Harry Potter stars slammed her writings, including Emma Watson, who portrayed Hermione Granger, Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley, and Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne, who outrightly disagreed with Rowling's comments.
From Inflating Her Pride to Criticizing Reform Bill: Rowling on a Rampage
Let's just say 2020 was the year Rowling got busy spreading her opinion on the existence of trans people and how it affected her career.
After Rowling received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award in 2019, the human rights group's president, Kerry Kennedy, released a statement the following year to express their "profound disappointment" over the Harry Potter author's continuing invalidation of the entire transgender community.
In retaliation, Rowling announced that she would return the award after being "incorrectly implied" that she was transphobic and denied that she was responsible for harm against trans people.
By September, she published a novel titled Troubled Blood under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The book revolved around a male serial killer who dressed like a woman.
A spokesperson for Mermaids, a charity that supports trans children, told CNN they were "disappointed" that Rowling and her new novel were propagating a "long-standing and hurtful presentation of trans women as a threat."
Rowling, in turn, defended that the book was "loosely based" on real killers.
Another prominent showcase of her anti-trans agenda was when she condemned a bill in Scotland that would make it easier for trans people to legally change their gender.
Again, Rowling said the bill would "harm the most vulnerable women in society: those seeking help after male violence/rape and incarcerated women."
Needless to say, given the reputation she built for herself since, fans have decided to boycott the Harry Potter role-playing game, Hogwarts Legacy, because supporting her products would be "harmful to trans people."
Despite the call, Hogwarts Legacy became the most popular game on the streaming platform, Twitch, which drew millions of viewers.
Most news outlets that reviewed the game believed that the game and its developers don't necessarily share Rowling's views, which may have convinced some to play it anyway.
As one review defended, "Harry Potter will outlive its author. She is not the future of the franchise."
Oh, and Rowling also supported U.S. President Donald Trump's recent win.
Gloating Over the UK Supreme Court's Harmful Ruling Over Transgender Community
The past events don't even begin to sum up what Rowling had in store for 2025.
If anything, she doubled down when the United Kingdom's Supreme Court unanimously passed a ruling that harmed trans people's gender identity and integrity.
The court ruled that the terms "woman" and "s*x" in the Equality Act 2010 only refer to biological women. Rowling took the opportunity to gloat over this "win" on her social media page.
It's worth noting that prior to the UK Supreme Court passing the bill, many non-Harry Potter actors spoke their piece against Rowling's unwavering anti-trans agenda.
These actors included The Mandalorian and The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal, Doctor Who's David Tennant, and Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan.
As though to exercise Rowling's power over HBO's developing Harry Potter reboot, she declared that she won't fire Paapa Essiedu, who will be playing Professor Severus Snape, despite the actor's stance of signing the open letter criticizing the Supreme Court.
It's difficult to say whether or not Rowling would step down from her high horse any time soon, considering how she "built" her platform over the years. However, you can refer to some of her most recent tweets below:
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