JK Rowling criticised for posting image of trans woman that showed up her skirt
JK Rowling. (Getty)
JK Rowling has come under fire for sharing a photograph of a trans woman that was taken at an angle that showed under the woman’s skirt.
The author posted the image to her X account on 11 July under a long thread of screenshots of past posts written by the woman, identified as Freda Wallace.
The image shows Wallace sat in a chair with one leg crossed over the other while wearing fishnets and a short skirt.
Rowling then misgendered Wallace in the caption, writing: “Sadly, Fred’s refusing to debate me. To prove I have no hard feelings, and that Fred does engage with some lucky women, here’s a picture of him debating [Helen Joyce]. I hear he left an indelible impression on the audience. And the chair.”
The referenced debate was hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs in 2023 around the topic: ‘Does transgender ideology threaten liberal values?’
In the debate video’s description, Joyce is listed as the “former finance editor at the Economist, author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality and director of advocacy at Sex Matters”, while Wallace is listed as a “political commentator, freelance writer and host of the Gender Nebulous podcast”.
Also in attendance were gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, and Marc Glendening, who is Head of Cultural affairs at the IEA and author of the organisation’s Transgender Ideology report that was published in 2023.
Rowling received criticism for her post, with one X user writing: “Would you ever post a photo like this of a cis woman? What would you think of a man who posted a photo like this of any woman? So what makes you think it OK to post this photo of a trans woman?”
“Fred was at a public event that was filmed with all participants’ knowledge,” Rowling replied. “Fred chose the fishnets and miniskirt. Fred boasted on stage about what he does with his female penis. You may feel squeamish about this picture, but Fred is a paraphilic exhibitionist who was having the time of his life.”
The original commenter then added: “You realise you’re doing exactly what men do to humiliate and demean women who they think are too vocal, or too provocative, or politically challenging, or not sufficiently demurely dressed? (See, Angela Rayner, for example).”
In response to Rowling’s original post, another X user commented: “You’re a gross Bully. What a sad woman you must be.”
