HOLLYWOOD, California, June 10, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) ― Daniel Radcliffe, who played the main character in all eight Harry Potter movies, has been criticized for lecturing the woman whose books made him world-famous on the definition of “woman.”
Radcliffe, 30, skyrocketed to stardom after he was selected at age 11 to play the title role in movies based on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. On Monday, the English actor contradicted the female author’s recent tweets underscoring that only biological females are women.
“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe wrote in a June 8 blogpost for an LGBT organization named The Trevor Project.
“Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo [Rowling] or I.”
He went on to apologize to fans of Rowling’s books for her remarks and to separate the best-selling works from their author.
“If these books taught you that love is the strongest force in the universe, capable of overcoming anything; if they taught you that strength is found in diversity, and that dogmatic ideas of pureness lead to the oppression of vulnerable groups; if you believe that a particular character is trans, nonbinary, or gender fluid, or that they are gay or bisexual; if you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred,” he wrote.
“And in my opinion nobody can touch that. It means to you what it means to you and I hope that these comments will not taint that too much.”
Critics were swift to point out that Rowling certainly knows more about being a woman than Radcliffe. Caroline Farrow,Citizen GO’s Campaign Director for the UK and Ireland, told LifeSiteNews that Radcliffe's arrogance is “staggering.”
“The arrogance of Daniel Radcliffe, a young man who has just hit thirty, telling a woman old enough to be his mother and to whom he owes his entire wealth, career and platform, that she is not qualified to know what it means to be a woman, is simply staggering,” Farrow said via social media.
“Radcliffe not only lacks critical thinking skills and common sense, but also it seems, loyalty, humility and respect in disregarding JK Rowling's own personal experience of womanhood, including experiences of miscarriage and life as a single mother.”
Farrow, whose pro-life, pro-family activism has led to her ongoing abuse at the hands of transgender activists, pointed out that J.K. Rowling was advised to use her initials instead of her given name to disguise her sex.
The campaigner, a married mother of five, also observed that Radcliffe is merely one of a number of celebrities capitalizing on his fame to push a liberal agenda.
“It ought to be remembered that Radcliffe is just another young woke celebrity male whose opinion carries no more or less weight than any other member of the general public,” Farrow said.
“If he wants to educate himself then perhaps he ought to listen to the voices of those women from all walks of life, including survivors of rape and sexual assault and women from religious minorities who face being forced out of public life, thanks to the introduction of men in their intimate spaces.”
Kellie-Jay Keen, also known as Posie Parker, is well-known in the UK for her posters defining “woman” as a “adult human female.” Yesterday, after reading Radcliffe’s blog post, Keen filmed a video in which she underscored that biological realities define what being a woman is.
“I’m so angry and despairing that I literally could cry, and I don’t think it's just because I’m perimenopausal,” Keen said.
“Oh, that’s something that happens to women. I’m not sure that we can talk about women,” she continued sarcastically.
“It’s almost like we live in a deeply sexist, misogynist environment created by people on the left.”
Keen suggested that saying “transgender women are women” is akin to saying “all lives matter” to someone who is trying to explain why “black lives matter.” She explained that women need female-only spaces when they are most vulnerable: when menstruating, when taking refuge in a women’s shelter, when sick in hospital. Picking up on J.K. Rowling’s original controversial tweet, Keen stated that the “embarrassing nature of periods” is something that Radcliffe will never understand.
Saying “transwomen are women” is tantamount to saying that “women aren’t special enough, or important enough, or valid enough to actually have our own identity,” Keen said.
Women were not the only people who objected to the former child star’s intervention. Dr. Debbie Hayton, a self-described transexual and “trans realist,” has written Tweets and articles supporting Rowling and the traditional definition of woman.
“By Dan Radcliffe: ‘Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary …,’” Hayton tweeted.
“Any statement to the contrary is more likely to be consistent with the truth: we aren't women!” he added.
“Children are being told lies. No wonder their mental health is suffering.”
Hayton has been accused of “hate” for wearing a T-shirt reading “Transwomen are men. Get over it.”
On Saturday, J.K. Rowling caused a firestorm when she mocked the headline of an article in online charity magazine Devex.com. The headline reads “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-Covid 19 world for people who menstruate.”
“I'm sure there used to be a word for those people,” Rowling, 54, wrote in what is now a viral tweet. “Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
She also wrote a tweet underscoring the reality of biological sex and its important in shaping lived experience.
“If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,” she wrote.
“If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
The author asserted that she respects “every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic to them” but also that her own life had “been shaped by being female.”
“I do not believe it is hateful to say so,” she insisted.