JK Rowling calls transwoman football manager a ‘straight, white bloke’, sparks row
Renowned author JK Rowling has found herself embroiled in controversy yet again, this time accused of insensitivity for her comments regarding the world’s first openly transgender football manager, Lucy Clark.
The Harry Potter novelist came under fire after responding to a post by LGBTQ+ charity Pride on X (formerly known as Twitter), celebrating Clark’s achievements.
The transgender referee recently made history by becoming the first manager in the top five divisions of English Women’s football, who identifies as a transwoman.
In the post, JK Rowling said: “When I was young all the football managers were straight, white, middle-aged blokes, so it’s fantastic to see how much things have changed”.
Rowling’s response to the post stirred up outrage, with many social media users condemning her remarks as cruel.
Pride’s original post featured a photo of Clark proudly brandishing her pink whistle and a red card, her dark brown hair cascading in waves around her shoulders.
Reacting to the social media backlash, the Cormoran Strike author said that calling a man a man is not ‘bullying’ or ‘punching down’. Rowling also said that she did not compare the football manager to a “straight, white, middle-aged bloke”, but that “he IS one”.
“I didn’t compare him to one. He IS one,” Rowling said in a tweet.
“Calling a man a man is not ‘bullying’ or ‘punching down.’ Crossdressing straight men are currently one of the most pandered-to demographics in existence, and women are under no obligation to applaud the people caricaturing us,” she tweeted.
Earlier in March, Rowling sparked another controversy after she shared a message on Mother’s Day seemingly trolling trans activists and inclusive language.
“Happy Birthing Parent Day to all whose large gametes were fertilised resulting in small humans whose adult was assigned by doctors making mostly lucky guesses,” Rowling had said.
The author was reported to the police by UK television personality India Willoughby over her alleged transphobic comments. Willoughby, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2015, has accused Rowling of intentionally misgendering her.
