‘Fantastic Beasts’ Star Eddie Redmayne Speaks Out Against J.K. Rowling’s Trans Statements
One day after Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe decried remarks made by series creator J.K. Rowling that some are calling transphobic, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them actor Eddie Redmayne has similarly spoken out against the author’s comments.
As shared previously by The Inquisitr, Rowling ignited a firestorm on social media this week by retweeting an article that included the line, “people who menstruate” in its headline. In her post, she joked that it should have just read “women,” which prompted a series of replies admonishing the author, screenwriter, and producer that the article’s writer was simply trying to use inclusive verbiage.
Commenters further chastised Rowling for being exclusionary and potentially transphobic with her response to the article’s wording. Those remarks prompted her to defend herself with a series of tweets in which she claimed that she had been empathetic to trans people for decades. However, she also made further distinctions between trans women and those who were born biological females.
In a statement given to Variety and other outlets, Redmayne said that he disagrees with Rowling’s assessment and proclaimed that “trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid.” He also said that the process of educating himself on trans issues was an ongoing one.
“As someone who has worked with both J.K. Rowling and members of the trans community, I wanted to make it absolutely clear where I stand. I disagree with Jo’s comments. 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. They simply want to live their lives peacefully, and it’s time to let them do so.”
Before joining the film adaptation of the Fantastic Beasts series — which is a spin-off of Harry Potter — in the lead role as Newt Scamander, Redmayne won critical acclaim for his portrayal of Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl, which was directed by Tom Hooper. Elbe was a transgender woman in 19th-century Denmark who was one of the earliest recipients of sex reassignment surgery.
For his efforts, Redmayne received Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Best Actor. However, he later questioned his own casting, telling GQ in 2018 that he still hadn’t reconciled whether playing the role was the right thing to do in terms of allowing trans people to tell their own story.
One day before Redmayne offered his comments on Rowling’s tweets, Radcliffe responded via The Trevor Project, writing that “transgender women are women,” and further stating that those who argued against that opinion were erasing “the identity and dignity of transgender people.”
