Author J.K. Rowling slammed three transgender rights activists on Twitter on Monday after they posted her address on social media. Rowling tagged the users in her posts after they shared a photo of themselves in front of her house. Rowling claimed that the trio “carefully position[ed] themselves to ensure that our address was visible,” though her address was already widely available.
Rowling thanked the local police and Twitter support for helping her deal with the fallout all weekend after her address was posted online. She also asked her fans and followers to un-retweet the picture so that there would be less chance of the address being seen. Rowling related the whole incident to her highly public stance against transgender rights, and claimed that it was an “intimidation” tactic intended to silence her. She wrote: “I’ve now received so many death threats I could paper the house with them, and I haven’t stopped speaking out.”
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“Perhaps… the best way to prove your movement isn’t a threat to women, is to stop stalking, harassing and threatening us,” Rowling concluded. She tagged the three users who posed for a photo in front of her house, all three of whom now now deleted their accounts.
The offenders were activist-performers Holly Stars, Georgia Frost and Richard Energy, who staged a protest in front of Rowling’s home to mark the global Trans Day of Remembrance this weekend. As Rowling’s critics pointed out, her address is already public knowledge, as it is considered a landmark by the local government and is even listed on a tourist website there. By contrast, fans thought that her actions were more akin to “doxxing” when she tagged the three protesters by name.
Rowling has been proactively fighting against transgender rights since at least 2019, when she tweeted her support for a U.K. woman whose employment contract was not renewed after she voiced anti-trans beliefs. Rowling then wrote an op-ed on her website revealing that she, too held many of these beliefs, which spread harmful disinformation about the transgender community when it comes to statistics on violence.
Rowling has not backed down since then, and critics have said that she is playing the victim while wielding immeasurable power through her wealth and cultural influence. Many have also reluctantly disavowed the Harry Potter franchise altogether, since Rowling personally profits from just about any engagement with the Wizarding World, including media, theme parks and merchandise.
Still, Rowling was conspicuously absent from the recent announcement of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts – a new reunion special premiering on New Year’s Day on HBO Max. The stars of the movie franchise both on and off camera will reminisce about the cultural giant, but Rowling will not be included. Some are speculating that this is a sign of Warner Bros. distancing itself from the controversial author.
