J.K. Rowling Doubles Down Against Trans Activists in Essay

J.K. Rowling has penned an open letter concerning her anti-trans tweets from last week.

The Harry Potter author posted the letter to her personal website on Wednesday (June 10).

In the 3,200 word essay, Rowling shared that she has been researching trans issues for her Cormoran Strike crime series (written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith).

Rowling claimed that she had five reasons for speaking out about trans issues: her charitable trust; her education as a former teacher; freedom of speech; concern regarding the number of people transitioning then transitioning back; and concern over the "consequences of the current trans activism."

She also alleged that her previous favorite of a tweet that read, "men in dresses," was an accident and that she meant to screenshot the tweet to look into the thread later on.

In one portion of the letter, Rowling admitted that she may have transitioned if she was born "thirty years later."

"I too might have tried to transition," she wrote. "The allure of escaping womanhood would have been huge," she continued. "I struggled with severe OCD as a teenager. If I’d found community and sympathy online that I couldn’t find in my immediate environment, I believe I could have been persuaded to turn myself into the son my father had openly said he’d have preferred."

Most of the letter was deemed problematic by activists and users on social media. In one paragraph in particular, Rowling shared her worry for the safety of women in bathrooms and changing rooms.

"When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside," Rowling wrote. "That is the simple truth."

See fan reactions to the letter, below.