Harry Potter star Rupert Grint says ‘trans women are women’ as cast continue to distance themselves from JK Rowling
Rupert Grint (Sylvain Lefevre/Getty) and JK Rowling (Dia Dipasupil/Getty)
Rupert Grint has joined his Harry Potter co-stars in defending trans people after JK Rowling published a lengthy essay laying out her “gender critical” opinions.
As JK Rowling faces a continuing backlash, Grint, who played Ron Weasley in the hit film series, expressed his solidarity with the trans community in a statement released to The Times.
“I firmly stand with the trans community and echo the sentiments expressed by many of my peers,” he said.
“Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgement.”
JK Rowling suggests she ‘might have transitioned’ if she was born 30 years later in a bizarre essay.
Rupert Grint is the latest in a long line of Harry Potter stars to speak out in support of trans people after the Harry Potter author faced criticism over her comments.
JK Rowling published a string of tweets last weekend in which she took issue with the trans-inclusive phrase “people who menstruate”.
Those tweets were met with significant backlash from trans people and their allies.
Then, on Wednesday (June 10), Rowling published a lengthy essay on her own website detailing her anti-trans views.
Trans women are women. Trans men are men. We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgement.
In that essay, she claims to have wondered whether she “might have transitioned” if she had been born 30 years later, and conflated advancements in trans rights with Donald Trump, incels and porn.
Daniel Radcliffe became the first major Harry Potter star to condemn Rowling’s views in a statement released through LGBT+ charity The Trevor Project earlier this week.
“While Jo is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honoured to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment,” Radcliffe said.
“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,” he added.
Several high-profile Harry Potter stars have leapt to the defence of the trans community.
Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the films, came to the defence of trans people after JK Rowling published her essay on Wednesday.
“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,” Watson wrote in a tweet that has since been liked almost 1 million times.
She then urged her followers to donate to trans youth charity Mermaids as well as trans-inclusive feminist charity Mama Cash.
Other actors who have leapt to the defence of trans people include Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Chris Rankin and Katie Leung.
