Things the following group of people have decided are A-OK and do not in any way merit criticism and are, in fact, “honourable and compassionate” behaviour:
- Publishing a hurtful and ignorant essay about (among other things) how trans kids need conversion therapy, not friends or healthcare
- Attacking the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, an international agency for the provision of clean water for drinking and washing, for using inclusive language about menstruation
- Threatening to sue a children’s newspaper to make them withdraw an article which was intended to provide a structured discussion about how one may love an author’s writing but hate their political views.
On 3rd August, the President of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights trust, revoked the Kennedy Award made to J. K. Rowling, because (full text of Kerry Kennedy’s statement):
“Trans rights are human rights. J.K. Rowling’s attacks upon the transgender community are inconsistent with the fundamental beliefs and values of RFK Human Rights and represent a repudiation of my father’s vision. As well, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states in Article 1: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…” Women’s rights are not degraded by the recognition of trans rights. On the contrary: A commitment to human rights demands a commitment to combat discrimination in all its forms. ”
All of this – which has happened out in public since June, and it’s only September – apparently makes Rowling deserving of a public letter in the Sunday Times from the people listed below (and Tony Robinson has said he would have signed it if he’d been asked) because who could possibly think any of that made her a terrible person who had completely lost the plot?
Some of the names are familiar – Julie Bindel (of course), Graham Linehan (naturally), Malcolm Clark (he’s one of the co-founders of hate group LGB Alliance), Simon Fanshawe (who was a founding member of Stonewall UK and has said that he thinks expanding Stonewall’s work to include trans people was a mistake). Debbie Hayton – a trans woman who likes to hang out with the anti-trans crew and talk about how she doesn’t deserve equal rights, I know, go figure – And a few actual big names that are not a surprise but a disappointment: Tom Stoppard, Griff Rhys Jones, Francis Wheen.
But most of them, I say frankly, I’d never heard of before, and now I know what they think, I’d just as soon never hear of them again.
These people, and others who defend J. K. Rowling keep saying how much she cares, how compassionate she is, how much respect she shows to trans people.
Trans people, with near uniformity, say she’s hurting them, and hurting them worse if they used to be or still are fans of Hogwarts.
Follows the full list of those who signed the anti-trans letter in support of J. K. Rowling, sorted into alphabetical order by surname, with explanatory links to each person (webpage or their twitter account) because in the majority of instances I had no idea who any of these people were and so thought you might not either:
- Alexander Armstrong
- Trezza Azzopardi
- Frances Barber
- Jonny Best
- Craig Brown
- Grace Carley
- Maureen Chadwick
- Malcolm Clark
- Nick Cohen
- Amanda Craig
- Andrew Davies
- Charlotte Delaney
- James Dreyfus
- Simon Edge
- Simon Fanshawe
- Nehanda Ferguson
- Aminatta Forna
- Eileen Gallagher
- Magi Gibson
- Kath Gotts
- Manick Govinda
- Jane Harris
- Debbie Hayton
- Philip Hensher
- Justin Hill
- Susan Hill
- Tatsuya Ishida
- Griff Rhys Jones
- Russell Celyn Jones
- Sam Leith
- Graham Linehan
- Lisa Marchiano
- Arthur Matthews
- Ian McEwan
- Ann McManus
- Ben Miller
- Jimmy Mulville
- Stella O’Malley
- Dr Mez Packer
- Nina Paley
- Gillian Philip
- Rachel Rooney
- Abigail Shrier
- Jane Thynne
- Lizzie Roper
- Birdy Rose
- Lionel Shriver
- Joan Smith
- Amanda Smyth
- Tom Stoppard
- Jess de Wahls
- Frances Welch
- Francis Wheen
- Victoria Whitworth
- Shirley Wishart
- Zuby
Let me say this, finally:If Rowling actually cared about or respected other people, discovering that so many trans people were bitterly hurt and angry at what she was saying, would surely have led to her at least acknowledging that her sincerely-held views were causing pain. She never has. No acknowledgement, no apology, and certainly no backtracking. The pain she has caused has gone unacknowledged by her or by anyone who supports her. That is neither honourable nor compassionate behaviour.
PS: On Monday night one of the original signatories, Jane Harris, decided that the letter of support for J. K. Rowling ought to be a petition, and set it up. The petition is not intended to ask for anything, to achieve any goal: the object is merely to let people know J. K. Rowling ought not to be criticised for her behaviour.
Edinburgh Eye 