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Warning: This article contains discussion of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community some readers may find distressing
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been the center of controversy since she let her feelings about the trans community be known.
The Scot's views on the transgender movement have become progressively stronger since first liking an anti-trans tweet in 2018 which referred to transgender women as 'men in dresses', to posting her own anti-trans message to her fans.
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"Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security," she wrote in December 2019.
"But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill."
It referred to the sacking of tax expert Maya Forstater over her anti-trans posts on social media.
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Since then, the 59-year-old author has posted most weeks about the transgender movement, earning the title of a TERF - a term coined from the trans community which stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
Her outspoken views sparked a feud among her and some of her fellow Harry Potter stars, although some actors have defended the mom-of-three.
Now that we're all filled in with the history of JK Rowling's views of the trans movement, let's dive into what some of the cast have said.
Daniel Radcliffe, AKA Harry Potter himself
The star of the franchise Daniel Radcliffe is an advocate of the transgender movement and has been vocal, distancing himself from the author of the books that helped make a name for himself.
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In 2020, he wrote an op-ed for The Trevor Project - an LGBTQ+ publication. He wrote in part: "Transgender women are women.
"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 or I."
Radcliffe went on to share how he was 'deeply sorry' for the 'pain' her comments had caused for the trans community.
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While just last year, he told The Atlantic: "It makes me really sad, ultimately.
“Because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic."
Adding: "Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person.
"But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life."
Emma Watson, AKA Hermione Granger
Like Radcliffe, Emma Watson, who starred as Hermione Granger in the franchise, has not shied away from making her feelings known on the matter.
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In April, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the 2010 Equality Act, the definition of the term 'women' only relates to biological women.
Following the news, Watson shared a post on Instagram.
It read: "To the person who said they like me best when I am not ranting about politics: I like me best when I am not ignoring fascism."
In 2020, she also addressed Rowling's comments by posting a supportive message to the trans community on Twitter.
"Trans people are who they say they are and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are," it read.
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"I want my trans followers to know that I and so many other people around the world see you, respect you and love you for who you are."
Then, at the BAFTAs in 2022, fans believe she took a swipe at Rowling.
Introducing her to the stage, Aussie actor Rebel Wilson Said: "Here to present the next award is Emma Watson. She calls herself a feminist, but we all know she's a witch."
While on stage, Watson told the auditorium: "I'm here for all the witches."
Rupert Grint, AKA Ron Weasley
Ron Weasley actor Rupert Grint issued a statement in 2020, which read: "I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers. Trans women are women. Trans men are men."
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While two years later, during an interview with the Times, he added: "I liken JK Rowling to an auntie. I don't necessarily agree with everything my auntie says, but she's still my auntie. It's a tricky one."
Tom Felton, AKA Draco Malfoy
Tom Felton, who is best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the popular wizarding world series, has become the latest notable character to break his silence on the controversy.
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Speaking to Variety, the actor was asked about how the controversy on Twitter about Rowling impacts him and his work.
"No, I can't say it does. I'm not really that attuned to it," Felton replied.
"The only thing I always remind myself is that I've been lucky enough to travel the world - here I am in New York, and I have not seen anything bring the world together more than Potter... and she's responsible for that, so I'm incredibly grateful."
Ralph Fiennes, AKA Voldemort
Lord Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes told The New York Times in 2022: "The verbal abuse directed at her is disgusting, it's appalling.
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"I can understand a viewpoint that might be angry at what she says about women. But it's not some obscene, uber-right-wing fascist. It's just a woman saying, 'I'm a woman and I feel I'm a woman and I want to be able to say that I'm a woman'."
Helena Bonham Carter, AKA Bellatrix Lestrange
In an interview with The Times, Helena Bonham Carter - who played one of Lord Voldemort's minions, Bellatrix Lestrange - voiced her opinion back in 2022 on whether or not JK Rowling deserved to be cancelled.
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She branded the backlash the author has faced as 'horrendous' and 'a load of b***ocks'.
"I think she has been hounded. It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse," Bonham Carter continued. "Everybody carries their own history of trauma and forms their opinions from that trauma and you have to respect where people come from and their pain."
The actor went on to add that not everyone has to agree on everything because that would just be 'insane and boring' and that Rowling wasn't 'meaning it aggressively' but just 'saying something out of her own experience'.
Bonham Carter believes the backlash Rowling has faced is simply a result of jealousy.
She said: "If she hadn’t been the most phenomenal success, the reaction wouldn’t be so great. So I think there’s a lot of envy unfortunately and the need to tear people down that motors a lot of this cancelling. And schadenfreude."
Bonham Carter also disagrees with other Harry Potter stars having publicly addressed the controversy surrounding Rowling, resolving she doesn't 'agree with talking about other famous people'.
Jason Isaacs, AKA Lucius Malfoy
Jason Isaacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in seven of the Harry Potter movies, explained that while some of Rowling's opinions 'differ' from his own, he believed that to publicly speak out against the author without talking to her first would be unfair, given the fact that she has 'poured an enormous amount of her fortune into making the world a much better place'.
"Many of us Harry Potter actors have worked for it, and seen on the ground the work that they do," he told The Telegraph, citing Rowling's children's charity, Lumos.
"So for all that, she has said some very controversial things, I was not going to be jumping to stab her in the front, or back, without a conversation with her - which I've not managed to have yet."
Evanna Lynch, AKA Luna Lovegood
Despite having stood alongside the likes of Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint back in 2020, Luna Lovegood actor Evanna Lynch appeared to change sides while speaking with The Telegraph in 2023.
"I was very naive when I was dragged into that conversation. I didn’t even know there were two sides. I had a view of, like, good and bad," she explained.
"I do have compassion for both sides of the argument. I know what it was like to be a teenager who hated my body so much I wanted to crawl out of my skin, so I have great compassion for trans people and I don’t want to add to their pain."
Lynch continued: "I do also think it’s important that JK Rowling has been amplifying the voices of detransitioners. I had this impulse to go, ‘Let’s all just stop talking about it’, and I think probably I’m a bit braver now about having uncomfortable conversations…
"I just felt that her character has always been to advocate for the most vulnerable members of society. The problem is that there’s a disagreement over who’s the most vulnerable. I do wish people would just give her more grace and listen to her."
Harry Melling, AKA Dudley Dursley
When Harry Melling, who played Dudley Dursley, was asked to touch on Rowling's comments on the trans movement, he told the Independent in 2022: "I can only speak for myself, and what I feel, to me, is very simple, which is that transgender women are women and transgender men are men."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.
Topics: JK Rowling, Transgender, Harry Potter
Joe Yates