JK Rowling deletes praise for Stephen King after he voices support for trans women
The Harry Potter author has been embroiled in rows over trans rights on Twitter for some time.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 11:03, UK
JK Rowling has deleted a tweet expressing her love for Stephen King after the horror author shared his view that "trans women are women".
King is the latest celebrity to wade into the Rowling's ongoing social media spats over transgender rights, after sharing one of her tweets.
The Harry Potter author had written a post quoting the late feminist Andrea Dworkin.
She said: "Andrea Dworkin wrote: 'Men often react to women's words-speaking and writing-as if they were acts of violence; sometimes men react to women's words with violence.' It isn't hateful for women speak about their own experiences, nor do they deserve shaming for doing so."
King retweeted the Twitter post, which formed part of a much longer thread Rowling had written referencing Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who had attacked her earlier comments over transgender rights.
Russell-Moyle had accused her of "using her own sexual assault as justification" to raise concerns over rights for transgender people.
Responding to King's interaction with the post, Rowling wrote: "I've always revered Stephen King, but today my love reached - maybe not Annie Wilkes levels - but new heights. 'It's so much easier for men to ignore women's concerns, or to belittle them, but I won't ever forget the men who stood up when they didn't need to. Thank you, Stephen.'"
However, one of King's fans then asked him for clarification on his views, writing: "You should address the TERF tweet. By telling us constant readers if you believe trans women are women".
The term TERF stands for "trans-exclusionary radical feminist" and has been levelled at Rowling by trans activists who have taken offence at some of her social media posts.
King replied: "Yes. Trans women are women."
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Following King's response, Rowling deleted her post in praise of him.
Both Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe and Fantastic Beasts star Eddie Redmayne have publicly criticised Rowling's views on trans issues over the last few weeks.
Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, and Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, have also both spoken out in support of transgender people, following Rowling's earlier comments.