Hogwarts taught them well. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have become the latest Harry Potter actors to condemn J.K. Rowling’s controversial comments, and further controversial comments, about the transgender community. In a statement to the Sunday Times, Grint said that he “firmly” stands with the trans community and echos the sentiments expressed by many of his peers. “Trans women are women. Trans men are men,” he said. “We should all be entitled to live with love and without judgment.” In a separate statement on social media, Watson said that she “respects and loves” her trans followers. “Trans people are who they say they are,” she wrote, “and deserve to live their lives without being constantly questioned or told they aren’t who they say they are.”
Prior to Watson and Grint weighing in on Rowling’s tweets and 3,670-word blog post, which questioned the concepts of gender identity and “trans issues,” fellow Gryffindor Daniel Radcliffe published an essay on June 8 to express disagreement with the author’s ideology. “I realize that certain press outlets will probably want to paint this as in-fighting between J.K. Rowling and myself,” Radcliffe explained, “but that is really not what this is about, nor is it what’s important right now.” Eddie Redmayne, who stars in the Harry Potter–adjacent film series Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, also criticized Rowling’s comments, saying that “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.”
Warner Bros., the studio that produced every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film, released a statement on June 10 to affirm its commitment to fostering a “diverse and inclusive” company culture that “deeply values the work of our storytellers.” It stopped short at directly condemning Rowling.
