In April, actor and passionate trans ally Pedro Pascal expressed utter repulsion at Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s recent social media post celebrating an anti-trans decision by the U.K. Supreme Court.
Naturally, there was backlash. A recent profile of Pascal in Vanity Fair discusses how “some tried to frame it as a man trying to bully a woman into silence,” despite the fact that Rowling, herself, has emerged as one of the world’s most prominent anti-trans bullies.
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At the time, Pascal referred to Rowling’s glee over the ruling – which said that trans women should not legally be considered women based on the 2010 Equality Act – as “Awful disgusting SH*T” and “Heinous LOSER behavior.”
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The actor told Vanity Fair that for a little while after the backlash, he felt like “that kid that got sent to the principal’s office a lot for behavioral issues in public schools in Texas feeling scared and thinking, What’d I do?”
He also said he “agonized” over whether his public support for trans rights was actually helping.
“It’s a situation that deserves the utmost elegance,” Pascal said, “so that something can actually happen, and people will actually be protected. Listen, I want to protect the people I love. But it goes beyond that. Bullies make me f**king sick.”
Pascal has long been outspoken in support of his sister, Lux Pascal, who is a trans actress and activist. He recently posted a photo on Instagram that declared, “A world without trans people has never existed and never will.”
Pascal added in the comments, “I can’t think of anything more vile and small and pathetic than terrorizing the smallest, most vulnerable community of people who want nothing from you, except the right to exist.”
In May, Lux Pascal told the Hollywood Reporter that her brother is just as wonderful as he seems.
“What makes him so fabulous is that [Pedro] wears all of his humanity on his sleeve,” she said, “and he doesn’t hide who he is. And I think that’s refreshing, because usually we move around the world hiding who we are. That’s the main lesson I’ve gotten from him: there’s no reason for me to hide who I am, right? And I think people are seeing that.”
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