A “Harry Potter” star has come to JK Rowling’s aid.
The author has been causing controversy for years with her views on transgender rights.
It apparently started in June 2020, when she denounced the use of the phrase “people who menstruate” in an article.
This tweet divided Twitter users. While there was a section that supported Rowling, there were many – including numerous celebrities – who criticized her comment as “anti-trans” and “transphobic,” arguing that transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people can also menstruate.
In an essay, the author addressed the backlash and detailed her experiences as a survivor of alleged domestic violence and sexual assault.
The essay sparked further criticism, and many actors from the Harry Potter franchise, including Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, have since expressed their support for transgender people.
Now, Evanna Lynch, star of “Luna Lovegood,” has expressed her views on the matter. At the time, Lynch deleted her social media account after saying in response to Rowling’s initial comments: “It is irresponsible to discuss such a sensitive subject. However, as a friend and admirer of Jo, I cannot forget what a generous and loving person she is.”
Lynch won the role of Luna in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix after she wrote to the author about her battle with anorexia. Rowling responded with “incredible, wise letters” while Lynch recovered.
In a new interview, Lynch said she was “very naive” when she was “drawn into this conversation” in 2020.
“I didn’t even know there were two sides,” she said The Telegraph“I had an opinion about what was good and what was bad. I have compassion for both sides of the argument. I know what it was like as a teenager to hate my body so much that I wanted to jump out of my skin. That’s why I have great compassion for transsexuals and don’t want to add to their pain.”
She continued: “I also think it’s important that JK Rowling amplifies the voices of de-transitioners. I had an impulse to say, ‘Let’s just stop talking about it,’ and I think I’m probably a little braver now when it comes to having uncomfortable conversations.”
Lynch said she was surprised by the continued reaction to Rowling, “especially when she wrote her essay” in which the author revealed personal details about her life.
“I just felt like it was always her character to stand up for the weakest members of society. The problem is that there’s a disagreement about who is the weakest. I wish people would just show her more grace and listen to her,” she said.
Last month, Rowling dismissed concerns that her stance on trans issues and gender recognition could overshadow her legacy as the creator of Harry Potter.
The author said in a new podcast created in part in response to the backlash over the remarks: “It doesn’t matter – I’ll be dead! I care about the now. I care about the living.”
