Wednesday, May 15, 2024
ADVT 
Life

JK Rowling returns award from group linked to Kennedy family

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Aug, 2020 10:21 PM
  • JK Rowling returns award from group linked to Kennedy family

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says she is returning an award from a human rights group linked to the Kennedy family after the president of the organization criticized her comments about transgender issues.

Rowling's decision comes after Kerry Kennedy, the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the late senator's daughter, published a statement expressing her “profound disappointment” with the author's comments.

“The statement incorrectly implied that I was transphobic, and that I am responsible for harm to trans people,” Rowling said on her website.

“As a longstanding donor to LGBT charities and a supporter of trans people’s right to live free of persecution, I absolutely refute the accusation that I hate trans people or wish them ill, or that standing up for the rights of women is wrong, discriminatory, or incites harm or violence to the trans community.”

In a series of tweets in June, Rowling said she supported trans rights but did not believe in “erasing” the concept of biological sex. Rowling said she refused to “bow down” to a movement seeking “to erode ‘woman’ as a political and biological class and offering cover to predators like few before it.”

In a post on her website Friday, she expressed “solidarity with those who have contacted me but who are struggling to make their voices heard.''

Rowling has previously said she was partly motivated to speak out about the issue because of her personal experience of abuse and sexual assault.

Actors from the Harry Potter franchise, including Daniel Radcliffe, have previously criticized the author.

Kerry Kennedy joined the criticism this month when she published her statement on the website of RFK Human Rights. The group in December named Rowling one of its Ripple of Hope laureates for her founding of Lumos, which works to get children worldwide out of orphanages and into families.

Kennedy claimed Rowling's ‘’attacks upon the transgender community" were a repudiation of her father's vision.

"I have spoken with J.K. Rowling to express my profound disappointment that she has chosen to use her remarkable gifts to create a narrative that diminishes the identity of trans and nonbinary people, undermining the validity and integrity of the entire transgender community — one that disproportionately suffers from violence, discrimination, harassment, and exclusion and, as a result, experiences high rates of suicide, suicide attempts, homelessness, and mental and bodily harm," Kennedy said.

MORE Life ARTICLES

Tourist towns balance fear, survival in make-or-break summer

Tourist towns balance fear, survival in make-or-break summer
As the coronavirus raced across America, this quaint seaside town did what would normally be unthinkable for a tourist destination.

Tourist towns balance fear, survival in make-or-break summer

'Even if no one is watching:' Parade marshal named for cancelled Stampede

'Even if no one is watching:' Parade marshal named for cancelled Stampede
Filipe Masetti Leite has spent a lot of alone time in the saddle criss-crossing countries on horseback over the last eight years.

'Even if no one is watching:' Parade marshal named for cancelled Stampede

Panth Vasse: Keeping the Spirit of Vaisakhi Alive

Panth Vasse: Keeping the Spirit of Vaisakhi Alive
 In today’s world, Sikhs may not face the same sort of challenges, but they still draw inspiration from the way that Guru Gobind Singh Ji embodied “Panth vassé main ujjara, mann chaao ghanera.”

Panth Vasse: Keeping the Spirit of Vaisakhi Alive

The Significance of Kartarpur Sahib

The Significance of Kartarpur Sahib
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib is among the holiest of holy shrines which is believed to be the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of the Sikh religion.

The Significance of Kartarpur Sahib

The True Meaning of Vaisakhi

The True Meaning of Vaisakhi
Vaisakhi is a celebratory and rich cultural event that features floats, hymns, and langar.

The True Meaning of Vaisakhi

The Significance of Sangat

The Significance of Sangat
Sangat, particularly in Sikhism, is defined as a company or fellowship of woman, men and children that gather in holy assembly in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib ji.

The Significance of Sangat