JK Rowling’s name almost erased from Fantastic Beasts trailer amid yet another trans rights row
JK Rowling attends the Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them world premiere in 2016. (Getty/ Ben Gabbe)
JK Rowling’s name has been almost completely erased from the new trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
The trailers for the first two films in the Harry Potter spin-off series – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) – prominently announced Rowling’s involvement
But in the new trailer, released Tuesday (14 December), her name is listed in almost illegibly small writing, right at the very end.
The trailer’s release came shortly after Rowling began, yet again, spewing anti-trans sentiment on Twitter.
On Sunday (12 December), the author linked to an article in The Times on Police Scotland’s chief insisting that the force would not misgender trans people accused of rape, in relation to a proposed self-ID law.
Rowling commented: “War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman.”
She was accused of spouting “constant transphobic cherry-picked vitriol”, and just two days later, the Fantastic Beasts trailer almost entirely erased her name.
Since the last time a Fantastic Beasts film hit cinemas, Rowling has found herself wrapped up in controversy after controversy when it comes to trans rights.
In 2019, she voiced her support for Maya Forstater, a tax researcher whose contract was not renewed after she upset her co-workers with her anti-trans comments, insisting that Forstater had been “forced” out of her job “for stating that sex is real”.
In 2020, she hit out at inclusive language in an article about menstruation, before publishing an essay attempting to defend her anti-trans views.
In the essay, she suggested that gender dysphoria stems from mental health problems and associated trans rights with Donald Trump, incels and pornography.
JK Rowling has repeatedly denied she is transphobic.
Fantastic Beasts stars have stood up to JK Rowling and declared their support for trans rights
Katherine Waterston, star of the Fantastic Beasts series including the new film, set to be released in April, has spoken about standing up to JK Rowling’s anti-trans views.
In July, she told The Independent that it “felt important to communicate my position” on trans rights and her support of the trans community because of her connection with Fantastic Beasts.
After Rowling produced her notorious essay against trans rights, Waterston took to Instagram to share a Guardian article headlined: “Trans women pose no threat to cis women, but we pose a threat to them if we make them outcasts.”
She highlighted sentences from the article, including: “Sorry, you can’t be a feminist if you’re not for everyone’s human rights, notably other women’s human rights.”
Her Fantastic Beasts co-star, Eddie Redmayne, told Variety last year: “Respect for transgender people remains a cultural imperative, and over the years I have been trying to constantly educated myself… I disagree with Jo’s comments.
“Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid.
“I would never want to speak on behalf of the community but I do know that my dear transgender friends and colleagues are tired of this constant questioning of their identities, which all too often results in violence and abuse. They simply want to live their lives peacefully, and it’s time to let them do so.”
