Transphobic writer JK Rowling lashed out at women who kiss other women, saying that they want the “eradication of single-sex” facilities.
Rowling made the comment in response to a clip from interior designer Jennifer Welch’s and lawyer Angie Sullivan’s podcast, where they talked with queer influencer Matt Bernstein about Rowling’s obsession with transgender people, which she usually frames as protecting cisgender women from transgender women.
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“I’m a woman,” Welch said in the clip. “I’m a progressive woman. I always vote for women’s rights. I would consider myself to be a feminist.”
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“I am not, in any way, shape, or form, threatened, nor is my femininity, by the existence of trans women.”
The clip was shared by an antitrans activist who goes by “Duncan” on X and who describes himself as a “same-sex attracted” man. “Same-sex attracted” is an expression commonly used by conversion therapy providers and evangelical Christians to pejoratively refer to gay and bi people.
“Trying my best not to say the wrong thing here but women like this, specifically like this… are typically the type that want to be my best friend and go shopping,” Duncan wrote.
Rowling saw his post and responded by telling the story of “a male friend of mine” who “asked a female friend of his what kind of woman would be ok cheering on the eradication of single sex rape shelters, changing rooms, women’s sport etc.”
“She thought for a moment, then said, ‘you know the girl at the school party who’d snog another girl if the lads were watching? It’s THAT girl,’” Rowling wrote.
A male friend of mine asked a female friend of his what kind of woman would be ok cheering on the eradication of single sex rape shelters, changing rooms, women’s sport etc. She thought for a moment, then said, ‘you know the girl at the school party who’d snog another girl if the…
Rowling is right in that LGBTQ+ people – whether they’re trans or cis – are far more likely to support trans rights than straight and cisgender people, according to an LA Times poll released this month.
A YouGov poll last year in the U.K. also found that 75% of cis LGBTQ+ people had a positive view of trans people, with 84% of cis bi and lesbian women saying they had a positive view of trans people. This is far higher than the 39% of people in general in the U.K. who had a positive view of trans people.
In responses, people pointed out that Rowling wasn’t exactly referring to queer women, even though she seemed to be presenting the idea of two women kissing in a negative light. What she was referring to, they insisted, was same-sex performativity, or same-sex behavior from people who identify as heterosexual.
Social and behavioral scientist Samantha Stevens says women engage in same-sex performativity for a variety of reasons, including the safe exploration of their own sexuality.
“Media and popular culture often fetishize and trivialize this kind of sexual behavior among college women, but there’s more complexity than people might realize and it’s important to avoid overgeneralizing and oversimplifying this phenomenon and the women who engage in it,” Stevens told Psychology Today.
On X, people called Rowling’s comments anti-LGBTQ+. Others suggested that the “male friend” with the “female friend” that Rowling described doesn’t actually exist.
Bisexual hate. Lovely. They just hate the whole LGBTQA collective.
It’s pretty funny for Rowling to hit on such a misogynist stereotypes (“bi women are only bi to appeal to men” and “many women are pick-mes who only say what they say because they’re trying to get with men”) while calling others misogynists.
it’s so weird that they keep saying stuff like this when poll after poll in different countries show that women are far more likely than men to support trans people. if any women are adopting beliefs for male attention, it’s the transphobes.
