J.K. Rowling And The Pettily Returned Kennedy Award
Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling once wrote a book that was 766 pages. Yet somehow, her grievance against the trans community is her longest, most drawn-out story, which now includes the return of a year-old award after receiving some rightfully constructive criticism.
Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of events: Since June, J.K. Rowling has unleashed multiple transphobic comments unto the world, including a rather lengthy screed posted on her website. Yes, it was definitely Pride Month. Yep, the globe was in the throes of protesting systemic racism and state-sanctioned violence. Oh, you bet she could have focused on literally either of those vital developments and properly educated herself. But she didn’t.
What makes this behavior even more nonsensical (if you can believe that’s possible), is that only a year prior, the nonprofit Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization honored Rowling with the Ripple of Hope, an award that recognizes those who, per the site, “demonstrated a commitment to social change and reflect Robert Kennedy’s passion for equality, justice, basic human rights, and his belief that each of us can make a difference.” (This year’s recipients include Dr. Anthony Fauci and Colin Kaepernick.) Naturally, when the author started to show signs that her passion for basic human rights didn’t quite extend to trans folks, the organization’s president and Robert F. Kennedy’s daughter, Kerry Kennedy, felt a need to address Rowling both privately and publicly. Kennedy posted a response on the organization’s site, which detailed why Rowling’s stance was so harmful:
