Daniel Radcliffe defends speaking out against J.K. Rowling’s controversial comments

Actor Daniel Radcliffe has opened up about why, back in 2020, he chose to speak out against the transphobic comments made by “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling. 

In an interview published Tuesday in Indiewire, Radcliffe — who starred as the titular character in the eight film adaptations of Rowling’s best-selling books — explained that “the reason” he “felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing ‘Potter,’ I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that. And so seeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way. And that was really important.”

In June of 2020, Radcliffe posted an open letter on the website of LGBTQ youth nonprofit The Trevor Project. The letter was published after Rowling commented on an opinion article in which she took issue with the phrase “people who menstruate.”

Rowling posted a link to the article on Twitter with the caption: “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

Her tweet sparked widespread criticism and outrage. Radcliffe’s fellow “Harry Potter” stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint also spoke out against Rowling’s comments. 

In his open letter at the time, Radcliffe said he felt “compelled to say something at this moment.”

“Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe wrote in the letter. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.”