The JK Rowling fracas holds a lesson for us all

We love to silence those with a point of view that differs from ours.

Not only because we disagree with them, but because we fear to be confronted with opinions that may force us to question our own.

It’s nothing new. The Catholic Church did it centuries ago. The Nazis and Facists did it 80 years ago, as did the fathers of apartheid. And now it’s the haters of JK Rowling’s turn.

The writer of the Harry Potter series – the books that got us all reading again – has been put on social media trial by trans-activists over tweets on the topic of biological sex.

Rowling hit out at an article about “a more equal post-Covid-19 world for people who menstruate”. “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” she wrote.

She continued: “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.”

When lambasted, she published an essay on gender, saying the trans movement erodes “woman” as a political and biological class.

Now Rowling’s ideas have created a free-for-all, prompting those who label themselves as tolerant, to tar and feather the author. There have even been calls on her publisher not to print her next book.

Rowling – whose credentials as a feminist and gay rights activist is beyond doubt – has been called a Terf, which, apparently, describes feminists who are transphobic.

This entire drama saddens me. The point of the Rowling spat is not about the rights of transgender people. It’s about the right of fellow activists to disagree without being tarred and feathered. And the most likely activists to get involved in the transgender cause are feminists.

Of course the argument won’t change much in the real world. Apart from the lovely Snapdragon, who is always right, people make mistakes.

The “lived reality of women” as Rowling calls it, will continue to be their lived reality – it will just become frowned upon to call it that. But it will teach people you can sensor anybody. And I’m not sure the world needs that lesson.

Dirk Lotriet.

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