JK Rowling criticised for following a 'famous transphobe' on Twitter

A pro-transgender website has criticised author JK Rowling for “following a proud YouTube transphobe” on Twitter.

A Twitter account called Trans Advocate, which also has a website dedicated to providing resources about transgender rights, uploaded a snapshot of people who Rowling follows, one of whom is Magdalen Berns, a self-professed “monotoned boring transphobe. [sic]”

They wrote:

Cool. So, for #Pride2019, @jk_rowling is following a proud youtube transphobe.

Upon learning of Trans Advocate's tweet, Berns responded with "cool".

Berns has a YouTube channel in which she often discusses transgender women, and once interviewed by Posie Parker - who has been labelled as a renowned transphobe - about "the transing of children".

“Everyone knows trans women are men,” she announced in a 2018 video titled, ‘RE: What is a TERF?’

Berns also called for people to stop using the term TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminist) as that is an attack on free speech.

In the same video she called on people to “cut the b******t.”

Let’s stand up for ourselves and stop being weak because this nonsense is seeping into legislation and policy and you will lose your rights to even speak about yourself.

And you will lose your rights to be a lesbian and you will lose your rights to speak about an issue that predominately effect women [sic].

You will lose your right to free speech. To name reality. To say ‘the emperor has no clothes'.

It’s about time people took this issue seriously because it’s not going to end here.

Trans women are men. 

Last year JK Rowling liked a transphobic tweet, which she attributed to a "clumsy and middle-aged moment".

Following criticism online, Rebecca Salt, who represents Rowling, said:

I’m afraid JK Rowling had a clumsy and middle-aged moment and this is not the first time she has favourited by holding her phone incorrectly.

A member of JK Rowling's PR team told indy100 that the author "simply follows a wide range of people on Twitter that she finds interesting".

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