JK Rowling faces ‘tons of abuse’ from LGBT Harry Potter fans
The author has been accused of failing to defend the LGBT community and rejecting her queer fans.
JK Rowling has hit back after receiving “tons of abuse” from disgruntled Harry Potter fans after she supposedly confirmed that Sirius Black is not gay.
Although Rowling has never confirmed Black’s sexuality, some LGBT fans of the franchise have long believed the character to be attracted to the same sex.
The backlash began after the author changed her Twitter bio to seven obscure answers to unspecified “FAQs”.
Many fans linked her last few answers – “5) No he isn’t, 6) No, he really isn’t, 7) Yes, I’m sure” – to questions surrounding Black’s sexuality.
The announcement infuriated some Twitter users, who quickly began slamming the author under the #JKRowlingIsOverParty hashtag.
Some ‘fans’ declared her a “traitor to the LGBT cause”, with others claiming the author – who recently defended Olympian Tom Daley from anti-gay trolls – is actually a “homophobe”.
This led to Rowling fans leaping to the much-loved writer’s defence.
However, as the author later clarified, the questions did not even relate to the character.
When quizzed on the matter by a curious fan, Rowling responded: “No, the last three ‘answers’ in my bio refer to the person who has dominated my notifications for the past 5 days.” Jeremy Corbyn, perhaps?
She later responded to another fan, saying there was “no news” regarding Black’s sexuality, with people “just leaping to mistaken conclusions and a ton of abuse.”
“I’d just like to say, because it would be downright rude not to, THANK YOU for the huge number of wonderful messages I’ve been sent tonight,” she wrote later.
The author continued: “Twitter’s a strange place at times, but for every bit of hate I’ve received I’ve always had so much more love and support. Obrigada a todos!”
Rowling has become known for giving brilliant responses on social media – especially when supporting or defending the LGBY community.
Highlights include a recent response to the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), who took offence to the idea of Rowling’s creation Dumbledore – who she revealed was gay in 2007 – marrying fellow wizard Gandalf.
