JK Rowling under fire for following a ‘proud transphobe’ on Twitter

The Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been heavily criticised for following the “self-professed transphobe” YouTuber Magdalen Berns on Twitter.

Berns has uploaded numerous anti-trans videos to YouTube with titles including, “There is no such thing as a lesbian with a penis,” “Gender is NOT a social construct,” and “Non binary bullsh*t.”

Berns has also called for people to stop using the term TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminist), saying it is an attack on free speech.

Rowling’s following of the account was discovered by pro-transgender account Trans Advocate, who tweeted a screenshot and noted that Rowling had followed Berns during Pride month.

Cool. So, for #Pride2019, @jk_rowling is following a proud youtube transphobe. pic.twitter.com/06EuMDU2nn

— transadvocate (@transadvocate) June 23, 2019

Rowling has previously liked a tweet which called transgender women ‘men in dresses’, but when questioned on this Rowling’s representative explained: “I’m afraid JK Rowling had a clumsy and middle-aged moment and this is not the first time she has favourited by holding her phone incorrectly.”

But this latest slip has led fans to suggest that Rowling actually does share Berns’ anti-trans views, particularly in light of the fact that she also follows numerous other  ‘anti-trans’ accounts on Twitter.

so the question that you in no way need answered, that you probably weren’t thinking about at all until you saw this tweet, is:
“Is J.K. Rowling a terf?”

I just went through all the accounts she follows — it’s a pretty small list, under 700 — and here’s what I found.