J.K. Rowling feuds with 'Potter' star David Tennant, calls him member of ‘gender Taliban’
J.K. Rowling is beefing with another "Harry Potter" star.
The "Harry Potter" franchise author is calling out "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" star and "Doctor Who" alum David Tennant, one of Britain's most outspoken trans advocates. Tennant is dad to a transgender son.
He called out anti-LGBTQ+ activists in his speech at The British LGBT Awards, including conservative British politician Kemi Badenoch, one of the most anti-trans leaders in the country, who he said should "shut up." He added that Pride is about "common sense" and "human decency."
But that didn't sit right with the outspoken bestselling author.
"But the utterances of the Gender Taliban receive special dispensation, for they are a holy caste," Rowling posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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J.K. Rowling says 'Harry Potter' starswho've criticized her anti-trans views 'can save their apologies'
She continued in a separate X post: "This man is talking about rape survivors who want female-only care, the nurses currently suing their health trust for making them change in front of a man, girls and women losing sporting opportunities to males and female prisoners incarcerated with convicted sex offenders."
USA TODAY has reached out to reps for Tennant for comment.
In late April, "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe opened up to The Atlantic in an interview about Rowling's anti-trans views and his own work for LGBTQ+ rights, including with LGBTQ+ youth advocacy organization The Trevor Project.
"It would have seemed like, I don't know, immense cowardice to me to not say something," Radcliffe told the outlet. "I wanted to try and help people that had been negatively affected by the comments and to say that if those are Jo's views, then they are not the views of everybody associated with the 'Potter' franchise."
Rowling previously responded to a fan's post on X about feeling "safe in the knowledge" that she would forgive "Harry Potter" stars such as Radcliffe and Emma Watson, who have denounced the author's anti-trans rhetoric. Rowling wrote, "Not safe, I'm afraid."
"Celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women's hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors can save their apologies for traumatised detransitioners and vulnerable women reliant on single sex spaces," her post continued.
Contributing: Naledi Ushe
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