“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling is getting her wand snapped in half again online, after a new series of tweets has offended transgender people and their supporters.
On Saturday afternoon, Rowling snarkily retweeted an international-development group’s article on “global menstrual health and hygiene.”
Rowling went into high snark mode over the article’s title: “Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate.”
“People who menstruate,” Rowling mocked. “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
The Twitterverse leaped into action, blasting Rowling for not acknowledging that transgender and nonbinary people who were born female but do not identify as women may still menstruate.
Rowling later posted that she’s been “empathetic to trans people for decades,” but raised more hackles by adding, “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.”
By Saturday evening, she was still insisting “sex is real” and was still getting slammed by the LGBTQ organization GLAAD.
“We stand with trans youth, especially those Harry Potter fans hurt by her inaccurate and cruel tweets,” the group tweeted.
In December, Rowling faced backlash for supporting a researcher who claimed biological sex can’t be changed.