Emma Watson reacts to JK Rowling comments: ‘Trans people are who they say they are’
"Trans people are who they say they are."
By Will Stroude
Emma Watson has issued a statement of solidarity with the transgender community in the wake of JK Rowling’s comments about transgender rights and identities.
The Harry Potter actress, 30, took to Twitter moments to declare “trans people are who they say they are” on Wednesday (10 June), just moments after Rowling published a 4,000 word essay which argued transgender rights are doing “demonstrable harm” to cisgender women and “offering cover to predators” in single-sex spaces.
“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”, wrote Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the eight Harry Potter film adaptations.
“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.”
Watson, who in 2014 was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill ambassador and helped launch the UN Women campaign HeForShe, which encourages gender equality, added that she donates to trans youth charity Mermaids and trans-inclusive women’s rights group Mama Cash.
“If you can, perhaps you’ll feel inclined to do the same”, she told her 29 million followers on Twitter.
She added: “Happy #PRIDE2020 Sending love x.”
Watson’s show of solidarity with trans people comes after her Harry Potter co-star Daniel Radcliffe issued his own statement through LGBTQ youth charity The Trevor Project calling into question Rowling’s views.
Declaring that “transgender women are women”, Radcliffe, 30, said: “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people” as he released a message through LGBTQ suicide prevention charity The Trevor Project.
The actor added he hoped Rowling’s comments would not “taint” the Harry Potter series for fans, pointedly remarking that the books about the boy wizard fighting dark forces taught many that “dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups”.