Daniel Radcliffe Speaks Out On Transphobia and J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling recently received some heat from fans for seemingly expressing transphobic views online. This includes regularly liking and retweeting transphobic Twitter users and openly mocking the term “people who menstruate,” claiming that people who menstruate are just women at the exclusion of trans men and nonbinary people.

This week, The Trevor Project, an American non-profit focused on suicide prevention of LGBTQ+ individuals, published an essay on trans and non-binary acceptance by lead Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe. “78% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported being the subject of discrimination due to their gender identity,” Radcliffe said in the essay. “It’s clear that we need to do more to support transgender and nonbinary people, not invalidate their identities, and not cause further harm.”

Radcliffe clarified that him speaking out on this issue was not a result of in-fighting with Rowling. “While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment,” continued Radcliffe.

In the past, Radcliffe has been an open advocate of LGBT rights. In 2012, Attitude Magazine quoted the actor about same-sex marriage: “Gay people should have equality in law everywhere. If you grow up as a young gay man knowing you don’t have the same opportunities as everyone else, you’re going to feel victimized and massive prejudice towards you.”

Radcliffe concluded his article by appealing to fans of Harry Potter who have felt betrayed by Rowling, “I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you. I really hope that you don’t entirely lose what was valuable in these stories to you…if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred. And in my opinion nobody can touch that.”