Harry Potter author JK Rowling sparked a firestorm on Thursday, ended a weeks-long Twitter silence to show support for a researcher who had been fired from an international thinktank over a series of transphobic tweets, one of which asserted, “Men cannot change into women.”
The researcher, Maya Forstater, was back in the news after a judge ruled against her.
The Guardian reported: “In a keenly anticipated judgment that will stir up fresh debate over transgender issues, Judge James Tayler, an employment judge, ruled that Maya Forstater's views did ‘not have the protected characteristic of philosophical belief'.”
The Guardian adds: “She was accused at the employment tribunal of having retweeted transphobic material, including a newspaper cartoon of a person flashing two women at a London swimming pond, with the caption ‘It's alright – it's a woman's penis'. Court documents show that she had previously tweeted that ‘it is unfair and unsafe for trans women to compete in women's sport' She was also accused of gendering a non-binary person, Gregor Murray.”
Tweeted Rowling: “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? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill“
Rowling was called a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) after making the remarks and the term trended on Twitter.
