Harry PotteractorRalph Fiennesis weighing in on the controversy about authorJ.K. Rowling’s much-criticized remarks regarding the transgender community.
Speaking with the U.K.‘sThe Telegraphin an interview published Wednesday, the 58-year-old Oscar-nominated actor, who portrayed villain Lord Voldemort in the film franchise based on Rowling’s bestselling books, claimed the “level of hatred” aimed at Rowling was uncalled for, in his opinion.
“I can’t understand the vitriol directed at her. I can understand the heat of an argument, but I find this age of accusation and the need to condemn irrational,” said Fiennes. “I find the level of hatred that people express about views that differ from theirs, and the violence of language towards others, disturbing.”
Rowling, 55, came under fire last June when sheappeared to support anti-transgender sentimentsin a series of tweets. Though she denied her views on feminism are transphobic, shedoubled down on her controversial standpointsin a lengthy essay shared on her website days later.
Responding to backlashback in June 2020, Rowling wrote that she refuses to “bow down to a movement that I believe is doing demonstrable harm in seeking to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it.”
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images; Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
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“Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are,“tweetedEmma Watsonat the time. “I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are.”
J.K. Rowling.Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
In September, Redmayne, 39 — who received an Oscar nomination for playing a trans woman in 2015’sThe Danish Girl— toldTheDaily Mailthat he sent Rowling a private note amid the backlash, noting that he finds some of the “vitriol"aimed at her “absolutely disgusting.”
“To be very clear, in painting transgender people, particularly trans women, as caricatures and potentially as threats to the safety of other people, she is reinforcing the very prejudices that are at the heart of the discrimination, and oftentimes the violence, that comes to the trans community’s way,” McBride said. “The United Kingdom has allowed for transgender people to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity for years. There has not been a problem.”
“When trans people face discrimination in employment and housing and public spaces, it’s discrimination that’s rooted in the prejudice that transgender people are not who we say we are,” added McBride. “And that is exactly what J.K. Rowling is reinforcing.”
source: people.com
