Author JK Rowling, who made headlines for sharing her controversial views on transgender rights lately, has come up with a new novel that involves a storyline about a woman who is killed after being accused of transphobia.
In conversation with Graham Norton, Rowling told that her new novel, "The Ink Black Heart," is not based on her own experience being slammed as transphobic despite featuring a character who finds herself in a similar social media firestorm, Variety reported.
"I should make it really clear after some of the things that have happened the last year that this is not depicting [that]," Rowling said to Norton, asserting that her own fight against claims of transphobia had nothing to do with inspiring the book. "I had written the book before certain things happened to me online. I said to my husband, 'I think everyone is going to see this as a response to what happened to me,' but it genuinely wasn't. The first draft of the book was finished at the point certain things happened."
As reported by Rolling Stone, the character in the novel is "doxxed with photos of her home plastered on the internet, subjected to death and rape threats for having an opinion, and is ultimately found stabbed to death in a cemetery.
IN 2020, Rowling posted a tweet mocking an article that made reference to "people who menstruate," urging writers to use the term "woman."
The statement annoyed many fans, who condemned the comments as transphobic, to which she responded on Twitter. Rowling wrote, "If sex isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn't hate to speak the truth."
Several "Harry Potter" stars have spoken out against Rowling for her beliefs, including Daniel Radcliffe. The actor wrote a letter that "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 matter than either Jo or I."
Earlier this year, Rowling feuded online with Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, over the country's Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which aims to simplify the means by which a transgender person can legally change their gender through obtaining a gender recognition certificate. The certificate allows a trans person to receive a new birth certificate with their correct gender.
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