Actor Tom Felton joined the ranks of Ralph Fiennes and Robbie Coltrane as one of the few Harry Potter cast members to support author J.K. Rowling in the face of unbending leftist criticism over her stance against transgender radicalism.
Felton, who of course played Draco Malfoy in the beloved movie series, told The Times of London that J.K. Rowling alone should be credited for the franchise’s endearing legacy.
“I can’t speak for what other individuals have said,” he said. “I am constantly reminded that the Potter-verse, certainly when we were finishing the films, there was an expectation that the fandom would be dwindling slowly over the years, whereas most fans that say hello to me, shout ‘Potter’ or ‘Draco’ at me weren’t even born when the books were being made.”
“I am quick to remind myself and others that ‘Potter’ for some reason has brought more people together across the world and more generations than probably anything else has in the past 20 years, and I’m quick to celebrate that,” he added. “It came from one person, and that’s her, so I’m very grateful.”
In the summer of 2020, J.K. Rowling said that transgender ideology could lead to the erasure of womanhood as we know it by denying the basic biological functions that differentiate women from men.
“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. It isn’t hate to speak the truth,” she tweeted.
The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women – ie, to male violence – ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences – is a nonsense.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
Following her post, J.K. Rowling faced severe social media backlash, prompting Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Eddie Redmayne to publicly declare their support for the trans movement. Actors Ralph Fiennes, who played Voldemort, and Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, have both defended Rowling.
As criticism mounted, Rowling penned an essay about her experiences as a survivor of both sexual assault and domestic violence and argued that the concept of men becoming women erases womanhood entirely.
“It isn’t enough for women to be trans allies,” she wrote. “Women must accept and admit that there is no material difference between trans women and themselves. But, as many women have said before me, ‘woman’ is not a costume. ‘Woman’ is not an idea in a man’s head.’”
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