Radcliffe: ‘Transgender women are women’

Actor Daniel Radcliffe shared a message Monday in response to recent tweets from “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling that have been widely condemned as transphobic.

In a blog post for the Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ youth, Radcliffe, who played the titular boy wizard in all eight “Harry Potter” films, made clear where he stands on Rowling’s weekend Twitter outburst.

“While Jo [Rowling] is unquestionably responsible for the course my life has taken, as someone who has been honored to work with and continues to contribute to The Trevor Project for the last decade, and just as a human being, I feel compelled to say something at this moment,” Radcliffe wrote.

“Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.”

Rowling drew criticism on Saturday when she remarked on a Devex op-ed about health care inequality that used the phrase “people who menstruate” to be more inclusive. “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people,” she tweeted. “Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

The comment sparked a backlash from social media — but Rowling argued, “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.”