JK Rowling: Trans cast members of Pose condemn Harry Potter author's comments

‘She’s contributing to a stigma that is continuing to take our lives today’

Pose star Indya Moore says that they’re “not surprised” by JK Rowling’s “stupid” comments about transgender people.

Speaking to Variety, the cast of Ryan Murphy’s FX series Pose, which is set in the ballroom culture of the 1980s and 1990s and features a number of transgender actors, said that while Rowling’s comments are harmful, they cannot let her distract them from campaigning for their rights.

For Moore, who plays Angel on the show, Harry Potter had been a place of “escape” and “liberation” as a child, but now they say: “It’s so hurtful but also I’m not surprised by it.

“I think she’s speaking from this place of just sheer stupidity. I mean, it’s just so dumb. She’s not even understanding how much death and violence are behind all of those opinions that she’s sharing on social media right now.”

They continued: “She’s contributing to so much violence through her airing out her thoughts and ideas and opinions. She’s contributing to a stigma that is continuing to take our lives today.”

Mj Rodriguez, who plays Blanca, recommended trangender people avoid reading Rowling’s words for self protection, saying: “It’s really important to distance yourself away from anybody like that.”

She continued: “They’re clearly stuck in a generational gap of an understanding of something… We’re in a different time and era.”

Dominique Jackson, who plays Elektra on Pose, revealed that the author’s message has encouraged her to fight harder for transgender rights and the Black Lives Matter movement. “We continue to do the work that we do,” she said, ”and we do it even more, even harder than we have done before.”

On Wednesday (11 June), children’s book author Rowling published an open letter on her website which made a lengthy defence of her comments about transgender people, and also revealed she is a domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor.

The widely criticised post came after Rowling received backlash for posting tweets that were accused of transphobia.