JK Rowling promotes anti-trans shop selling ‘f*** your pronouns’ merch
Rowling shared a T-shirt she had purchased from the store, which is owned by the cofounder of a transphobic group
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has once again found herself embroiled in controversy after tweeting a link to a shop that sells anti-transgender merchandise.
Rowling’s 14 million followers were offered the ability to buy pins and stickers that include messages such as, “Transwomen are men,” “woman is not a costume,” “sorry about your dick bro,” “f*ck your pronouns,” and “lesbians don’t have penises.”
“Sometimes a T-shirt just speaks to you…” Rowling tweeted earlier this week, linking to the Wild Womyn Workshop and including a photo of herself in a T-shirt that reads, “This witch doesn’t burn.”
“From [Wild Womyn], in case you know a witch who’d like one,” she wrote, adding, “If you are (or know) a witch who wants one of these, don’t buy from cynical chancers. I got my T-shirt from [Wild Womyn].”
If you are (or know) a witch who wants one of these, don't buy from cynical chancers. I got my T-shirt from @Wild_Womyn #supportwomenrunbusinesses
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 22, 2020
In addition to Rowling’s “feminist witch” T-shirt, the shop includes an entire section of “gender critical” products, PinkNews reports.
Among the anti-trans messages, shoppers can buy badges that tout “Trans-ideology erases women” and “Don’t call me ‘cis,'” mugs that say “Notorious Transphobe” and “Member of ‘TERF.”
Other products compare transitioning to conversion therapy and claim support for “Detransitioners” — those who transition back to their assigned sex at birth.
Further products say that “Female biology is not an identity,” that “Queer politics erases women,” and urge supporters to “Get the L out of LGBT.”
Wild Womyn is owned by Angela C. Wild, who co-founded Get The L Out, and anti-transgender group that demands lesbian rights be separated from the wider LGBTQ rights movement.
The group gained notoriety in 2018 after forcing their way to the front of the Pride in London parade and staging an anti-trans protest.
Pride in London called their behavior “shocking and disgusting” and apologized to those in attendance for the “bigotry, ignorance and hate” that was on display by the group.
Get The L Out said it was protesting “on behalf of all the lesbians intimidated, threatened and silenced by the GBT community everywhere.”
“The GBT community today, by supporting the rights of males who “identify as lesbians” (also called “transwomen”) over the rights of lesbians to choose their sexual partners (on the basis of their sex, not how they “identify”) is in fact enforcing heterosexuality on lesbians,” a spokesperson said at the time. “This is a misogynistic and anti-lesbian manifestation of the rape culture we live in.”
Pride in London said it rejected what the group stands for, adding, “They do not share our values, which are about inclusion and respect and support for the most marginalized parts of our community.
“We are proud of our trans volunteers, proud of the trans groups that are in our parade, proud of our trans speakers at events and proud of the trans people who take part in our campaigns and proud of those who cheered even louder for them yesterday.”
JK Rowling has increasingly come under fire for comments and tweets viewed as anti-transgender, or sharing anti-transgender ideas.
Earlier this month, the latest book in her Cormoran Strike detective series, penned under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, drew criticism for including a male serial killer who dresses as a woman in order to kill his victims.
Related: JK Rowling’s new book sparks anger over ‘transvestite serial killer’
The Harry Potter author has also tweeted claims that sex is being replaced with gender identity, and responded to backlash over her comments by publishing a blog post titled “TERF wars,” in which she made unsourced claims about gender identity and detransitioning, drawing further ire from LGBTQ people and allies.
Her comments led stars of the Harry Potter film franchise to publicly support trans people, including lead actor Daniel Radcliffe, who published an essay affirming that “transgender women are women.”
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