JK Rowling: Harry Potter fans tear into author following ‘anti-trans’ tweets
The author is facing a backlash for latest posts
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Harry Potter fans are tearing into JK Rowling after she posted a series of “transphobic” tweets.
The author was met with a backlash after calling out an article’s use of the phrase “people who menstruate”.
“I’m sure there used to be a word for those people,” she wrote, adding: “Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
While many Twitter users supported Rowling for her tweet, there were plenty – including numerous celebrities – who criticised her comment as “anti-trans” and “transphobic” arguing that transgender, non-binary and non-gender conforming people can also menstruate.
Rowling then added that she supports transgender rights and took issue with being labelled a “TERF”, a trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
In the wake of the criticism, Harry Potter readers reignited the common debate regarding the author’s Black, Asian, and minority ethnic representation in the book series, with the character name “Cho Chang” starting to trend worldwide.
Specifically, people began pointing out the issue with this being the name she chose for the one main Asian character featured in the book series.
“I love how Cho Chang is trending,” reporter Kimmy Yam wrote. “Gotta get that one off my chest. JK Rowling gave the one Chinese character the name equivalent of Ching Chong. Then that character ended up being a snitching a** square. And did literally nothing in the series but date people.”
“Why was Cho Chang the only Asian student at Hogwarts?” another user wrote, continuing: “Why did she have to be a Ravenclaw, a snitch, & a love interest for white guys? Why is her name literally ching chong? Why did all of Asia get only 1 wizarding school & Europe got 3?”
“You know what no one has ever said? ‘Cho Chang is my favourite character, she has so much depth! She’s representing Asian women with her ability to date people, snitch, and basically be the name equivalent of ching chong!’ I was not born Asian for this sorta bs.”
Another user wrote: “Cho Chang is like the lazy racist version of Ching Chong.”
In the Harry Potter film series, Scottish actor Katie Leung – who has since shared her thoughts on the matter – played the character.
BAME representation in Harry Potter came into question once again earlier this week after Rowling added herself to the huge list of entertainment figures who vocally supported John Boyega following his powerful speech at a Black Lives Matter protest in London.
Rowling has been frequently called out for the lack of diversity in Harry Potter, and for suggesting that the character Hermione Granger could be read as being black.
Many also felt that revealing that Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay after the final Harry Potter book was published was “character revisionism”.
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