In Defense of J.K. Rowling: This is a Struggle for All of Us!

1. As we all know, J.K. Rowling, the world-renowned author of the Harry Potter series, in several tweets on Twitter, said “sex is real” and defended the sex-based rights of women. She has been subjected to tremendous violent slander and sexist abuse from misogynist trans activists and their allies around the world. No person in history has ever been subjected to such a myriad of attacks from the world all at once in such a short period of time. Showing that they are able to silence and ruin this famous, wealthy, and globally loved woman by using one-sided labeling and sexist slander, these misogynist attackers want to terrorise all people, and to force absolute obedience on women all over the world, and even on the trans people who do not necessarily agree with the vile ways of attack.

2. Their goal is absolutely not to defend trans people’s rights. If it were, there would be no need for that kind of sexist abuse, and J.K. Rowling didn’t say anything which violates the rights of trans people. She said that while the rights of trans people are important, the rights of natal girls and women are also important, and it is necessary to design social institutions, rules and laws that are not detrimental to either side. Where is the transphobia in this claim? The purpose of those attacking J.K. Rowling and absolutely refusing to allow even this level of claim is, therefore, not a defense of trans human rights. Their goal is to set up their own absolute dictatorship everywhere on this earth. Their final goal is to completely wipe from the face of the earth those who do not agree with them or defy them in any way.

3. Therefore, without any hesitation or ambiguity, we must resolutely stand with J.K. Rowling and fight her attackers relentlessly. She is now subjected to a much larger and more vile attack than women have been subjected to in the past. Those who are attacking her are literally the entire misogynists all over the world. They are sadists who feel sexual pleasure by violently attacking the one individual. In this struggle, the interests of all women, every cause of feminism, and all values of democracy and human rights are at stake. We cannot stand idly by. And this is a struggle that can never be lost. This is the anti-fascist struggle of the 21st century, the resistance of our time. If this struggle is lost, the social status of women and the democratic standards of society will be set back centuries.

4. But this is both a moment of peril and an opportunity, because J.K. Rowling is not only a world-famous writer, but also an advocate for women and children’s rights over the past decades. And her tweets are careful and considerate, and in her subsequent statement she shows people all over the world that she is not transphobic, but rather the opposite. Nevertheless, the trans activists and their allies, in their usual vein, use extremely sexist epithets to slur her. So their violent, fascist and reactionary nature is becoming clear to many around the world. In fact, hundreds of anonymous women on social media even in Japan have stood up in defense of J.K. Rowling. They are all true feminists, and potentially radical feminists. And we can and must turn this struggle into a second wave of the #MeToo movement. In particular, it is because J.K. Rowling, in her statement, very poignantly and very courageously confessed that she is a survivor of sexual violence. The first wave of the #MeToo movement was basically a movement that began with liberals, but this potential second wave of the #MeToo movement will be different. It comes from someone who is against both pornography and prostitution and is extremely pro-radical feminism. It is our movement and our struggle from the beginning.

5. In participating in this struggle, disagreements over subtle and complex issues of what the relationship between gender and sex is must be temporarily set aside. Whatever the relationship between gender and sex is, or how each is defined, we can and must unite to fight back against the vile and incredibly sexist attacks directed at J.K. Rowling. This attack is not as simple as covering a woman’s mouth. Their hands are reaching for her neck. Moreover, it’s not a few racist white cops who are trying to choke her, but the hordes of hundreds of thousands of liberals, “progressives” and self-described “anti-discrimination” people and groups. These “leftists” have been exposed as mere misogynists at the drop of a hat. Could there ever be a more horrific and desperate sight? Even if you disagree with J.K. Rowling on some issues, that is absolutely no reason not to openly and resolutely defend her. Are you not going to fight back against abuses of white cops just because the person being beaten by them has a different opinion than you do? Now, right before our eyes, she is being lynched by misogynists around the world, and called all kinds of derogatory sexist words, denied all personality and humanity, dumped like trash. If Andrea Dworkin were alive, she would be trembling with indignation, crying tears of blood, and would have stood up for J.K. Rowling, resolutely defending her. If we don’t stand up for her now, what is feminism for? What does democracy exist for? What do human rights exist for?

6. Our enemies are trans-fundamentalists and their misogynist allies, not trans people in general. A clear distinction must be made between the two. It was just as important to distinguish between the Nazi and the Germans in general. In trans people, like almost any other category of people, some are misogynists, some are feminists, and most are neither; J.K. Rowling’s statement itself clearly takes such a position. Her statement, while criticizing some trans activists, show a thoughtful concern and empathy for trans people. We must learn from her concern. We must unite to fight the misogynists, the enemies of both.

7. For that reason, it is not enough to say that J.K. Rowling is not transphobic. Rather, we must make it clear that the people who attacked her are transphobic bigots. This is because the attackers throw slander using the various attributes of women at her; cunt, hag, bitch, etc. And some tweet ‘suck my cock’, ‘suck my dick’, or ‘punch her vagina’, etc. That is a public sexual violence against her, and against all women, before the whole world. If actually “trans women are women”, then because these slurs demean women as a whole, they insult trans women as well. Therefore, it is the attackers who are transphobic. Also, the use of pejorative language with the female body is a violence and attack against trans men. This is because trans men are physically female. Therefore, it’s obvious that the people who attack J.K. Rowling insult and attack both trans women and trans men, so they are the vile and disgusting transphobic bigots.

8. Even if not directly participating in this trans crusade, there are other people who keep silent about the misogynistic attacks against J.K. Rowling, like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, and simply repeat the cliché “trans women are women,” or “trans people are what they say they are”. But, by repeating such claims, they show themselves to be not only misogynists, but also transphobes. This is because if Radcliffe and Watson really believe that “trans women are women”, then they should have been outraged at this derogatory use of female attributes, and adamantly opposed to it. They should have said this. ‘Such an attack is an attack and insult against all women, including trans women.’ But they never said any such thing. They discarded the woman who they owe the greatest debt for their current position, and stood by and watched her being burned at the stake, and even put more straw in the fire. What a shameless and disrespectful bunch! They don’t really believe inwardly that “trans women are women” or anything like that. That’s why they were able to go through with their misogynist attacks. Therefore, not only are these people still misogynists, but also despicable transphobes.

9. This is a continuation of the “war on women” that Andrea Dworkin talked about all her life, and one in its most grotesque and most blatant form. Our enemy seeks not only to destroy individual women, but to dismantle and destroy the class of women itself. Their goal is not mere victory, but the destruction of us. If you don’t want to be snuffed out, you have to fight the war seriously. This is because the trans-fascists have said ‘Kill TERFs’ millions of times and will continue to say it, and in fact they have begun to put it in to practice in part through physical violence against feminists. This is because the category “TERF”, as they call it, is getting broader and broader, and more and more inclusive of all people they don’t like. There is no end to their sadism and desire for power. If you don’t want to fall prey to them, you have to kowtow to them everywhere and lick their boots like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have done. Thus, this is also a struggle for human dignity, a struggle for a minimum of human decency. No one can escape unscathed or remain neutral in this struggle. This is the struggle for all of us!

14 June 2020