Why Daniel Radcliffe Spoke Up Against J.K. Rowling’s Transphobia: ‘I Needed to Say Something’

Harry Potter is an ally. Back in 2020, when J.K. Rowling started spewing transphobia on Twitter, Daniel Radcliffe — who portrayed Harry onscreen — spoke up in a powerful letter sharing his support for trans people, calling out the author.

Now, Radcliffe is reflecting on that decision in a new interview with IndieWire. “I don’t think I would’ve been able to look myself in the mirror had I not said anything,” he said.

Rowling’s comments at the time were both hateful and divisive for fans of the Harry Potter book series who felt identified by its characters — something Radcliffe was well aware of.

“The reason I felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that,” he said. “So seeing them hurt on that day… I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way.”

“And that was really important,” he added.

Back in 2020, Rowling liked tweets that described trans women as “men in dresses,” mocked an opinion piece that used the term “people who menstruate,” backed activist Maya Forstater after she was fired for her transphobic tweets, and penned a lengthy statement in June 2020 about the reasons she was “worried about the new trans activism.”

In his letter with The Trevor Project, Radcliffe declared: “Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject.”

At the time, Radcliffe was joined by castmates Emma Watson and Rupert Grint who also condemned Rowling’s comments. The author has continued to double down on her stance, most recently protesting Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill that would help simplify the process for people legally changing their genders.

Ralph Fiennes — who played Lord Voldemort — is one of the few (and only) Harry Potter actors to defend the transphobic author, saying that he understood where people upset with Rowling come from but that Rowling was not “some obscene, über-right-wing fascist.” 

 “It’s just a woman saying, ‘I’m a woman and I feel I’m a woman and I want to be able to say that I’m a woman.’ And I understand where she’s coming from,” he said. “Even though I’m not a woman.” 

From Rolling Stone US.