Harry Potter author JK Rowling is facing fresh accusations of transphobia after making a series of provocative posts on Twitter on Saturday.
The 54-year-old, who has 14.5 million followers on the social media network, began by posting a link to an oped piece titled 'Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate'.
Rowling accompanied the link with the message: "'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?"
She later continued: "If sex (gender) isn't real, there's no same-sex attraction. If sex isn't real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn't hate to speak the truth.
"The idea that women like me, who've been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they're vulnerable in the same way as women - ie, to male violence - 'hate' trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences - is a nonsense.
"I respect every trans person's right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I'd march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it's hateful to say so."
In response to a social media backlash, the author, who has a net worth of more than £750 million, informed one user that she had spent the last three years "reading books, blogs and scientific papers by trans people, medics and gender specialists", while in another post she revealed that a friend who is a "self-described butch lesbian" called her up to shout 'FUCKING YES!' in support of her point.
Rowling has been accused of transphobia in the past, having liked a status that referred to trans people as "men in dresses", and in December she pledged her support to a researcher who lost her job after making a series of transphobic remarks on social media.
Neil Wilkes
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