In his 1966 anti-Apartheid “Ripple of Hope” speech to South African students, Robert F. Kennedy declared that moral courage was essential for those seeking to change the world. Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, exemplifies this statement by defending an irrefutable biological fact: that women are adult human females. In 2018, Rowling publicly supported Maya Forstater, an English woman who lost her job for stating that “sex is immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity.” Forstater compared the issue to Rachel Dolezal, a white American woman who falsely claimed to be black.
Rowling agreed that while individuals can identify as they please, “force[ing] women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?” was unacceptable. Rowling was subsequently vilified and threatened with rape and death. In response to a news headline that referred to “People who menstruate” in 2020, Rowling tweeted “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud.” Rowling clarified that if sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women is erased.
These truisms led to further abuse and threats, but Rowling refused to back down. She even revealed that she survived domestic abuse and sexual assault. Despite facing vitriol and cancel culture, Rowling has been vindicated by her warnings about the dangers of limitless gender self-identification, as well as in the commercial world. Even the New York Times published an op-ed defending her.
In the face of such adversity, Rowling refused to “brave the disapproval of [her] fellows, the censure of [her] colleagues, the wrath of [her] society.” She exemplifies the moral courage necessary for those seeking to change the world. The beneficiaries of Rowling’s heroic moral courage are the women she set out to defend.
»Rowling publicly supports Maya Forstater«
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