My friend shared the following when I asked him what does he think about the backlash from JK Rowling's tweet during the I Pride Month:
JK Rowling's response to attacks against her for being trans-phobic are quite interesting. I think it highlights that these issues are not as simple as we make them out to be. It demonstrates the importance of having mature, nuanced and honest conversations in an attempt to understand one another's concerns before we start attacking one another for being hateful.
Initially when I saw her tweet, i had difficulty comprehending what she was trying to convey until my friend explained it to me. Partly because from where I'm from and none of my friends are trans to begin with, so this thing is very unusual and unique for me. I do not condone the atrocities inflicted to trans community. I've seen some tweets and news on it. Particularly one by POTUS himself https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/12/politics/trump-administration-transgender-health-care-protections/index.html
As much as one disagrees on terminology, one should not deprive another fellow concerning health, safety and life simply because of differing beliefs.
Remember this news: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrgJQI3O_RQ (interesting video relating to this issue but different timeline).
And do read what JKR (funny in my country 'JKR' is the public work department, so when this issue was trending, people thought this department was in trouble ><) arguments as below.
JK Rowling writes:
'I have a complex backstory, which shapes my fears, my interests and my opinions. I never forget that inner complexity when I'm creating a fictional character and I certainly never forget it when it comes to trans people.
All I'm asking – all I want – is for similar empathy, similar understanding, to be extended to the many millions of women whose sole crime is wanting their concerns to be heard without receiving threats and abuse.
I've got reasons for being worried about the new trans activism, and deciding I need to speak up.
Firstly, I have a charitable trust that focuses on alleviating social deprivation in Scotland, with a particular emphasis on women and children. Among other things, my trust supports projects for female prisoners and for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. I also fund medical research into MS, a disease that behaves very differently in men and women. It's been clear to me for a while that the new trans activism is having (or is likely to have, if all its demands are met) a significant impact on many of the causes I support, because it's pushing to erode the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender.
The second reason is that I'm an ex-teacher and the founder of a children's charity, which gives me an interest in both education and safeguarding. Like many others, I have deep concerns about the effect the trans rights movement is having on both.
The third is that, as a much-banned author, I'm interested in freedom of speech and have publicly defended it, even unto Donald Trump.
The fourth is where things start to get truly personal. I'm concerned about the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be de-transitioning (returning to their original sex), because they regret taking steps that have, in some cases, altered their bodies irrevocably, and taken away their fertility. Some say they decided to transition after realising they were same-sex attracted, and that transitioning was partly driven by homophobia, either in society or in their families.
Most people probably aren't aware – I certainly wasn't, until I started researching this issue properly – that ten years ago, the majority of people wanting to transition to the opposite sex were male. That ratio has now reversed. The UK has experienced a 4400% increase in girls being referred for transitioning treatment. Autistic girls are hugely over-represented in their numbers.
The same phenomenon has been seen in the US. In 2018, American physician and researcher Lisa Littman set out to explore it. In an interview, she said:
'Parents online were describing a very unusual pattern of transgender-identification where multiple friends and even entire friend groups became transgender-identified at the same time. I would have been remiss had I not considered social contagion and peer influences as potential factors.'
Littman mentioned Tumblr, Reddit, Instagram and YouTube as contributing factors to Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, where she believes that in the realm of transgender identification 'youth have created particularly insular echo chambers.'