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Writer and producer Dustin Lance Black has condemned author JK Rowling in the strongest possible terms, labeling her a “pretender” and “fraud”.
This week it emerged a character in Rowling’s latest novel – writing under her crime fiction pseudonym Robert Galbraith – is a man who dresses in women’s clothing and murders people.
Related: JK Rowling’s new book is about a man who dresses up like a woman…to kill people
News of the character comes after Rowling has faced a barrage of criticism for voicing her concerns about extending trans rights.
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A leading trans right charity in the UK, Mermaids, is among those to express concerns over the character in Troubled Blood. A spokesperson told CNN that someone presenting as another gender to attack people, “Is a long-standing and somewhat tired trope, responsible for the demonization of a small group of people, simply hoping to live their lives with dignity.”
Black – who won a screenwriting Oscar for the movie, Milk, in 2009 – yesterday retweeted a news story from Pink News about Rowling’s latest book.
JK’s work has always been jammed full of “borrowed” old tropes. It was just that she ”borrowed” tales many enjoyed revisiting. Her new well: long disproven, discriminatory old tropes and lies sewn by bigots. She’s a pretender. A thief. A fraud. And likely always has been. https://t.co/Fgn0B2rxMO
— Dustin Lance Black (@DLanceBlack) September 15, 2020
“JK’s work has always been jammed full of “borrowed” old tropes,” said Black. “It was just that she ”borrowed” tales many enjoyed revisiting. Her new well: long disproven, discriminatory old tropes and lies sewn by bigots. She’s a pretender. A thief. A fraud. And likely always has been.”
Queerty contacted JK Rowling’s press team but they declined to comment on Black’s tweet.
Related: Hagrid comes to J.K. Rowling’s defense because trans people are “waiting to be offended”
After previously expressing support for people who have questioned trans rights, Rowling published a 3,700-word essay in June to explain why she had concerns about allowing people to legally self-identify their gender. The UK has been undergoing a public consultation in recent months into its Gender Recognition Act, basically looking at whether it should simplify the legal process of transitioning.
Rowling raised particular concerns around allowing children to self-identify and allowing trans women into women-only spaces.
Many of those associated with the Harry Potter universe, including Daniel Radcliffe, Eddie Redmayne, and Emma Watson have publicly said they disagree with Rowling’s views. Actor Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Potter movies, is the one notable name to this week come out in her defense, suggesting some people were just “waiting to be offended.”
Others – including many longtime Harry Potter fans – have been left dismayed by Rowling’s views on trans issues. Actress Cynthia Nixon, who has a trans son, is among those to slam Rowling.
“It was really painful for [my son] because so much of his childhood was tied up with Harry Potter,” Nixon told The Independent. “We’re a Harry Potter family. The books seem to be about championing people who are different, so for her to select this one group of people who are obviously different and sort of deny their existence, it’s just… it’s really baffling. I know she feels like she’s standing up for feminism, but I don’t get it.”
Black has long been a vocal champion of LGBTQ rights. Besides Milk, he co-produced and co-wrote the TV mini-series When We Rise, about the LGBTQ civil rights movement. He’s married to the British, Olympic diver, Tom Daley.
Rowling made headlines in 2016 when she tweeted support for Daley after he was subjected to homophobic backlash after coming out as gay.
After failing to take a medal in his individual diving event at the 2016 Olympics, a Christian group in the UK said “turning gay” had not done Daley any good. Rowling called out the “offensive” tweet for being stupid and spiteful.
Can’t decide which is more offensive in this tweet, the stupidity or the spite. https://t.co/ksqZp17drc
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 20, 2016
Mister P
I believe that transgenderism is difficult for people to understand. It is their job to create some understanding for themselves. JK should have the resources and ability to learn about a portion of the world.
sfhairy
Dustin who? Like JK is super worried about what Dustin thinks. JK is correct. If you are born with a uterus or a penis, you are biologically female or male, and only a very small percentage are born with both or incomplete genitalia. You may not align with your birth gender and you may seek to change that gender, but you are biologically the sex you were born.
Cam
Translation: You oppose trans people being able to control their own lives.
Colin
JK is pro-woman, pro-gay, and pro-trans for the small slice of humanity suffering from gender dysphoria. She is opposed to non-gender-dysphoric men, Dolezar-like, claiming the status of womanhood and then bullying women into accepting that female biology has absolutely nothing to do with womanhood.
Cam
@Colin
Always fun when a troll comes in and tries to pretend that Trans people are all a bunch of male sex offenders who want to peek into women’s bathrooms.
Yeah, that’s EXACTLY why they lose connection with family, get fired from jobs, and risk daily abuse by coming out and transitioning. All so they can get a look at straight women putting on makeup in a bathroom.
Take it back to the Klan rally.
sfhairy
Poor Cam. I have no issue with trans people being able to control their own lives. Biology is a fact.
LegionKeign
Uh, OH! You’re gonna get it now! LOL!
LumpyPillows
@cam still being the bully, and is wrong again.
inbama
Maybe you should read Rolling’s well-written essay instead of taking the word of people so lunatic, they actually believe there are more than two sexes.
There has got to be a better way to defend trans’ rights than to insist everyone stand reality on its head.
darkanser
I suspect you heard of intersex. If not, I suggest you search “intersex” on YouTube. Not sure why you think it’s so cut and dry.
inbama
darkanser,
“Intersex” is viewed almost as much a misnomer as the now slur “hermaphrodite.” These are individuals who are male or female with DSD (Disorders of Sex Development) in which a baby is born with either both male and female reproductive organs, atypical sex chromosomes or atypical appearances to their genitals. This does not mean the child is neither male nor female – just that a doctor cannot reliably make that designation at birth.
There are only two human biological sexes: male that produces sperm and female that produces eggs. There is no in between.
Cam
Rowling was always steeped in B.S. after she stated that Dumbledore was gay.
Really? Funny how he didn’t give any indication in either the books or the movies. Then when they came out with new movies recently the same typical B.S. came out about not showing him as gay because it would distract from the character, blah blah blah.
Funny because Harry liking Cho Chang and dating Ginnie Weasely apparently weren’t “Distractions”.
Rowling is a multi billionaire. She’ll have to explain to me why Laverne Cox identifying as a woman will wreck Rowling’s life.
LumpyPillows
Try reading what JK has written on the subject. You clearly do not understand her perspective, so you really shouldn’t keep talking. Like that ever stopped.
Liquid Silver
Pretender? Fraud? She’s a writer, just call her wrong and quote the articles, that’s sufficient.
The name-calling and history re-writing is not attractive. I expect it of the far right. Actually…I expect it of the very far left, too because they’re equally crazy. But most of the left is supposed to be more sensible.
dhmonarch89
well- we all know DLB wouldn’t have time for this- chasing teenagers takes up the majority of his day!
dhmonarch89
calling the most prolific writer of our times a fraud is ridiculous. Jealous much- a failed writer/producer (who is a fraud without a credit in either for a while) trying to make a headline and keep himself relevant. All the sex pics and Bryan Singer rumors on line should have kept this bitch from casting stones for a lifetime!
LegionKeign
Isn’t DLB one of those hollywood gays that used to have parties with underage twinks?
I’m supposed to care what he thinks?
Jared MacBride
What do you mean used to? This is two very wealthy people arguing with each other about something neither of them knows much about.
LukeHeavens
On one hand, it’s surprising that so much of the Harry Potter series was about condemning bigotry against so-called mudbloods for being different. Then again, only Hermione spoke out against the slavery of elves. Even Dumbledore didn’t give a sh*t.
Alex_S
It’s called postmodern writing. As someone who never had an original idea of his own in his screenplays he should know better.
LumpyPillows
I like both JK and Lance, but making accusations of JK being a fraud and a thief is tragically pathetic.
dhmonarch89
Black is one to talk about being a thief and a fraud… His claim to fame- Milk won the best ORIGINAL screenplay Oscar back in 2009…if you’ve read the book, The Mayor of Castro Street or seen the Oscar winning documentary based on it- ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’, you would definitely think Black lifted/plagiarized 90% of the book. Hardly an Original screenplay! I wonder if it was an adapted script (no shame in that- some great adapted work out there), but that category was loaded with great scripts in 2009, so they entered it as original- with a better shot in a FAR weaker field.
stuffedpuppy
I cannot believe that anyone who has read Rowling’s essay would, seriously, call it “well written”. This headless piece of crap she published ad hoc is absolutely illogical from a so-called ‘educated’ ‘author’. Nowhere can she provide citations nor statistics for what she alleges. Instead the (unfortunately very naive) reader will not recognize that it is a piece written by a very frightened woman, who in mid-menaupause suffers from PTSD! In the essay, she says that trans teens would benefit from “antidepressants rather than hormones”. Well, Rowling would be well advised to take both!
Hey, J. K., Grow a Pair!!
stuffedpuppy
@inbama Whether you like it or not there ARE many in-betweens. Sex has absolutely nothing to do with genitalia no more than humanity has to do with skin colour. It is ALL IN THE BRAIN. Hard coded. To view biology in such a simplistic way is nearly criminal as are some of J K Rowling’s Twitter comments and pathetic essay (for the weak-minded).