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  • THE STANDARD

    JK Rowling: The outspoken children’s author who turned down peerages

    By Sian Baldwin,

    4 days ago
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=16Sn4o_0wFMYvQd00
    JK Rowling is known for defending women’s rights due to her own experiences Yui Mok / PA

    JK Rowling has revealed how she has turned down two offers of a peerage in recent years.

    The author said she said had refused the honours – once from Labour and once from the Conservative Party – and said she would again say no should she be offered a third time.

    The Harry Potter author, known for being outspoken on issues of gender, spoke out on this issue after the news that the Conservative leader hopeful Kemi Badenoch said she would give her a peerage for her sometimes controversial stance on the issue.

    Speaking on social media site X, she said: “It’s considered bad form to talk about this but I’ll make an exception given the very particular circumstances.

    "I’ve already turned down a peerage twice, once under Labour and once under the Tories. If offered one a third time, I still wouldn’t take it."

    She then said in reference to the offer from Ms Badenoch : "It’s not her, it’s me."

    Peers sit in the House of Lords and help decide on laws and policy in the UK. Most are appointed on the advice of the prime minister at the time, but all nominations are vetted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

    Ms Badenoch, who is hoping to become the next leader of the Conservative Party at the start of November, praised JK Rowling during a recent interview, saying she agreed with her unwavering view that women should be protected more in day-to-day life, with women recognised as such through biological sex, rather than on self-identified gender .

    In the interview with Talk TV online streaming service, Ms Badenoch said: "I don't know whether she would take it, but I certainly would give her a peerage."

    Ms Rowling was awarded an OBE in 2001 for her services to literature and philanthropy, and has always been outspoken on other views.

    She has always strongly denied being transphobic and came out in support of Maya Forstater, who worked as a tax expert at the Centre for Global Development, an international think tank, who was sacked after tweeting that transgender people cannot change their biological sex.

    Ms Rowling previously tweeted: “Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you.

    “Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?”

    She added the hashtags #IStandWithMaya and #ThisIsNotADrill.

    This promoted a divided reaction among her fans, who referred to her as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

    Ms Rowling has also sent more social media posts on the issue including when she responded to a headline which said: “Creating a more equal post-Covid-19 world for people who menstruate”.

    She tweeted: “‘People who menstruate’. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

    Actor Daniel Radcliffe , who had played Harry Potter throughout the eight films, then put out a statement through the LGBT suicide prevention charity The Trevor Project in June 2020 saying that she is “unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken” but he feels “compelled to say something at this moment”.

    He said the issue is not about “in-fighting between JK Rowling and myself” but stated “transgender women are women” and anything to the contrary “erases the identity and dignity” of people.

    Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, and Rupert Grint, known for the role of Ron Weasley, in the Harry Potter film series, and Eddie Redmayne, who stars in Ms Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts films, also spoke in support of transgender people.

    Following the backlash, Rowling revealed she was partly motivated to speak out on trans issues because of her experience of domestic abuse and sexual assault.

    On her website, she detailed the reasons she felt the need to talk about the issue – including her interest in “both education and safeguarding”, “freedom of speech”, and “solidarity with the huge numbers of women who have histories like mine”.

    Ms Rowling has also found backers along the way, including playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, actress Frances Barber, author Ian McEwan, actor and writer Griff Rhys Jones, and comedian John Cleese.

    Robbie Coltrane, who played gamekeeper Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, also defended her before his death in 2022.

    Ms Rowling has said her views have attracted “so many death threats I could paper the house with them”.

    In 2021, her address was posted online by campaigners who posed outside her home with “Trans liberation now” signs.

    That same year, the governing body for quidditch in the UK, which was influenced by a wizarding game in her novels, said it will be renamed to “distance” itself from Ms Rowling because of her comments.

    It subsequently called the sport QuadballUK.

    Ms Rowling went on to criticise the Scottish government’s plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act, which was later blocked by the UK government.

    She also launched a women-only service, for those who have experienced sexual violence or abuse, called Beira’s Place in Edinburgh in December 2022, following her comments against the proposals to remove the requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria as a condition of acquiring a gender recognition certificate.

    In 2023, a podcast series called The Witch Trials Of JK Rowling explored the fallout from her views on trans issues.

    It also featured interviews with Ms Rowling, who said that she “never set out to upset anyone” but was “not uncomfortable with getting off my pedestal”.

    Addressing people who felt that she has “ruined” her legacy, she said “you could not have misunderstood me more profoundly”.

    She also admitted it would have been “easier” not to wade in on the debate but she had become “deeply troubled by what I saw as a cultural movement that was liberal in its method” and she is fighting what she views as a “powerful, insidious misogynistic movement”.

    Read More

    JK Rowling reveals she turned down peerages twice after Kemi Badenoch offer

    I would give JK Rowling a peerage for gender stance, says Kemi Badenoch

    Kemi Badenoch says she would give Harry Potter author JK Rowling a peerage

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    Jk Rowling'S PeerageConservative Party controversyHermione GrangerJk RowlingYui MokHarry Potter

    Comments / 27

    Add a Comment
    Tara Webb
    3d ago
    As they say “Brilliant”
    Ashon Lewis
    3d ago
    I'm glad that this woman is standing on her ground
    View all comments

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